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04-28-2003, 06:18 PM
Popovich first Spurs coach to win award
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Associated Press
SAN ANTONIO -- Gregg Popovich won the NBA Coach of the Year award on Monday for leading the San Antonio Spurs to the league's best record.
Popovich, the first Spurs coach to win the award, received 40 out of a possible 121 first-place votes from a panel of sports writers and broadcasters.
Golden State Warriors coach Eric Musselman was second with 26 first-place votes, and Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan was third (18).
Popovich, San Antonio's coach since December 1996, led the Spurs to their third straight Midwest Division title and a 60-22 record.
San Antonio once trailed Dallas by 8½ games in the division, but the Spurs went 41-9, beginning Jan. 1, to pass the Mavericks in the final week of the season.
Popovich has a regular-season record of 339-185, giving him the most wins of any San Antonio coach, and he has a .647 winning percentage over seven seasons.
He is 35-26 in the playoffs. San Antonio is tied with Phoenix in the opening-round, best-of-seven series, with Game 5 on Tuesday night in San Antonio.
The Spurs have won at least 50 games in five of the past six seasons. In the strike-shortened 1998-99 season, San Antonio was 39-13 and went on to win its first NBA championship.
Besides being the Spurs' coach, Popovich was the team's general manager from 1994 to 2002 before giving that job to R.C. Buford before the start of this season.
Popovich started with the Spurs in 1988 as an assistant to coach Larry Brown, a position he held for four years. In 1992, he went to Golden State to serve in the same capacity under Don Nelson before returning to San Antonio as general manager.
A 1970 graduate of the Air Force Academy with a degree in Soviet studies, Popovich was a four-year player for the Falcons and led them in scoring as a senior.
After fulfilling his military commitment, he returned to Air Force as an assistant coach before moving west in 1979 to take the head coaching position at Division III Pomona-Pitzer in Claremont, Calif. He was there for eight years before joining the Spurs.
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Associated Press
SAN ANTONIO -- Gregg Popovich won the NBA Coach of the Year award on Monday for leading the San Antonio Spurs to the league's best record.
Popovich, the first Spurs coach to win the award, received 40 out of a possible 121 first-place votes from a panel of sports writers and broadcasters.
Golden State Warriors coach Eric Musselman was second with 26 first-place votes, and Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan was third (18).
Popovich, San Antonio's coach since December 1996, led the Spurs to their third straight Midwest Division title and a 60-22 record.
San Antonio once trailed Dallas by 8½ games in the division, but the Spurs went 41-9, beginning Jan. 1, to pass the Mavericks in the final week of the season.
Popovich has a regular-season record of 339-185, giving him the most wins of any San Antonio coach, and he has a .647 winning percentage over seven seasons.
He is 35-26 in the playoffs. San Antonio is tied with Phoenix in the opening-round, best-of-seven series, with Game 5 on Tuesday night in San Antonio.
The Spurs have won at least 50 games in five of the past six seasons. In the strike-shortened 1998-99 season, San Antonio was 39-13 and went on to win its first NBA championship.
Besides being the Spurs' coach, Popovich was the team's general manager from 1994 to 2002 before giving that job to R.C. Buford before the start of this season.
Popovich started with the Spurs in 1988 as an assistant to coach Larry Brown, a position he held for four years. In 1992, he went to Golden State to serve in the same capacity under Don Nelson before returning to San Antonio as general manager.
A 1970 graduate of the Air Force Academy with a degree in Soviet studies, Popovich was a four-year player for the Falcons and led them in scoring as a senior.
After fulfilling his military commitment, he returned to Air Force as an assistant coach before moving west in 1979 to take the head coaching position at Division III Pomona-Pitzer in Claremont, Calif. He was there for eight years before joining the Spurs.