On Dec. 14, 1996 the San Antonio Spurs beat the Dallas Mavericks 106-105 in a game that at the time held little significance. David Robinson made the game-winner with eight seconds left on a feed from Avery Johnson as the Spurs improved to 4-17 and gave a then 47-year-old Gregg Popovich his first career win as a head coach.
26 years and over 1,300 wins later, Popovich has passed Hall of Famer Don Nelson on the NBA's all-time wins list.
Nelson tallied 1,335 wins over 2,398 regular season games. Following Friday's win over the Jazz, Popovich sits on 1,336 wins in 2,030 regular season games.
Popovich needed fewer than 300 games to reach Nelson's win total, which speaks volumes of his success as one of the greatest coaches in NBA history.
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Most all-time wins by a head coach in NBA history
Below, you can find the complete top 10 for the head coaches with the most wins in NBA history.
Popovich's .658 win percentage ranks sixth all-time among coaches with more than three seasons, ranking behind only Phil Jackson, Billy Cunningham, Steve Kerr, K.C. Jones, and Red Auerbach.
| Rank | Name | Seasons | Wins | Win Pct. |
| 1. | Gregg Popovich | 26 | 1,336 | .658 |
| 2. | Don Nelson | 31 | 1,335 | .557 |
| 3. | Lenny Wilkens | 32 | 1,332 | .536 |
| 4. | Jerry Sloan | 26 | 1,221 | .603 |
| 5. | Pat Riley | 24 | 1,210 | .636 |
| 6. | George Karl | 27 | 1,175 | .588 |
| 7. | Phil Jackson | 20 | 1,155 | .704 |
| 8. | Larry Brown | 26 | 1,098 | .548 |
| 9. | Rick Adelman | 23 | 1,042 | .582 |
| 10. | Doc Rivers | 23 | 1,032 | .586 |
Bold indicates active head coach.
Most career wins by active NBA head coaches
Popovich and Rivers are the only two active head coaches in the top-10 for all-time wins.
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Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle (15th all-time, 858 wins), Hawks head coach Nate McMillan (18th, 719 wins) and Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra (24th, 651 wins) are the next three active head coaches who could eventually crack the top 10.
The active coach with the best shot at someday catching Popovich might be Spoelstra.
Spoelstra took over in Miami when he was 38 years old, a full 10 years sooner than Popovich in San Antonio. Now 51, Spoelstra has 651 wins. Popovich had just 163 wins by the end of his age-51 season.
| Rank | Name | Wins | All-Time | Age |
| 1. | Gregg Popovich | 1,336 | T-1st | 73 |
| 2. | Doc Rivers | 1,032 | 10th | 60 |
| 3. | Rick Carlisle | 858 | 15th | 62 |
| 4. | Nate McMillan | 719 | 18th | 57 |
| 5. | Erik Spoelstra | 651 | 24th | 51 |
| 6. | Alvin Gentry | 528 | 31st | 67 |
| 7. | Dwane Casey | 472 | 38th | 64 |
| 8. | Frank Vogel | 426 | 46th | 48 |
| T-9. | Steve Kerr | 421 | T-50th | 56 |
| T-9. | Tom Thibodeau | 421 | T-50th | 64 |
Most all-time playoff wins by a head coach
While Popovich is set to become the all-time winningest head coach during the regular season, he's still looking up at a pair of icons when it comes to the postseason.
Both Phil Jackson and Pat Riley have more playoff wins though Popovich could pass Riley if the Spurs make it into the first round and win a few games.
Popovich has five NBA titles, tied with Riley and John Kundla for the third-most in NBA history trailing Jackson (11) and Red Auerbach (9)
| Rank | Name | Wins | Win Pct | NBA titles |
| 1. | Phil Jackson | 229 | .688 | 11 |
| 2. | Pat Riley | 171 | .606 | 5 |
| 3. | Gregg Popovich | 170 | .599 | 5 |
| 4. | Larry Brown | 100 | .518 | 1 |
| 5. | Red Auerbach | 99 | .589 | 9 |
| T6. | Doc Rivers | 98 | .510 | 1 |
| T6. | Jerry Sloan | 98 | .485 | 0 |
| 8. | Erik Spoelstra | 85 | .594 | 2 |
| 9. | K.C. Jones | 81 | .587 | 2 |
| T10. | Lenny Wilkens | 80 | .449 | 1 |
| T10. | George Karl | 80 | .432 | 0 |
Gregg Popovich bio, record, stats
- NBA head coaching debut: Dec. 10, 1996
- Age: 73
- Seasons: 26
- Playoff appearances: 22
- Regular season record: 1,336-694
- Playoff record: 170-114
- NBA championships: 5
- Coach of the Year awards: 3x (2003, 2012, 2014)
