Former Hall of Fame NBA trainer Don Nelson is the most successful trainer in NBA history. Although his coaching days are over, Nelson hopes Spurs manager Gregg Popovich will break his record.
“I can’t wait for him to get this,” Nelson told USA TODAY Sports. “It’s going to be a great day for me.”
With five championships, Popovich has had a pretty epic 25-year run with the Spurs and cemented him as a future Hall of Fame coach. He is the only NBA coach and one of eight coaches in the four major US sports who, according to USA TODAY Sports, coaches a franchise for that time span.
Awards and making history are no stranger to Popovich, who had a 22-year playoff streak that ended in the 2019-20 season. He has the most regular season and playoff victories of any coach in NBA history (1,458).
He had 1,335 wins during Nelson’s coaching time – which means it only takes Popovich 48 wins to break his record. However, Nelson says he doesn’t think Popovich thinks about things like numbers and makes history:
“He’ll get that after this year, and probably one more,” said Nelson. “I hope he stays here to get this record. I want him to have it. “
“I don’t think he really does,” added Nelson. “But he’ll get it anyway. So it doesn’t matter what he thinks. “
Fans can only hope that Popovich will stay in the league long enough to break another record as he has so far done with ease.
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