Most regular-season wins, third-most successful coach in history... Gregg Popovich's career by the numbers

The announcement came as a bombshell, but it was logically expected given the form Gregg Popovich has displayed over the past few months. Victim of a stroke at the start of the regular season, then of fainting spells before being replaced by his assistant Mitch Johnson, the five-time NBA champion has decided to step down from his role as Spurs coach to become the franchise's chief operating officer. A look back at the career of one of the greatest coaches in NBA history, in numbers.

Gregg Popovich won five NBA championships with the San Antonio Spurs (1999, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2014), as many as John Kundla and Pat Riley. During his last success, he had on his team renowned players like Frenchmen Tony Parker and Boris Diaw, his faithful captain Tim Duncan, but also the current Paris Basketball coach Tiago Splitter and Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard.

In the NBA, only two coaches have won more championship rings: Red Auerbach, a nine-time Major League champion with the Boston Celtics, and Phil Jackson, who won 11 titles with the Chicago Bulls and then the Los Angeles Lakers. Beyond the NBA, Popovich also led the U.S. national team to a gold medal at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

He ultimately did not exceed the symbolic threshold of 30 seasons in the NBA, but with his 29 seasons spent in the Major League, he is the third coach in terms of longevity on a bench, behind Lenny Wilkens (32 seasons between 1970 and 2005) and Don Nelson (31 seasons between 1977 and 2010).

After 29 seasons on the American court, Popovich has amassed 1,422 regular-season wins. This is obviously more than any other coach in NBA history. He is ahead of Nelson and Wilkens (1,335 and 1,332 regular-season wins, respectively). In total, he has played 2,291 regular-season games, the third-highest total behind Wilkens (2,487 games) and Nelson (2,398 games).

Gregg Popovich and Erik Spoelstra (Miami Heat), 12 conference titles between them. (S. Wacher/Presse Sports)

In the playoffs, Popovich is the second-most capped coach in the NBA with 284 games played, the second-most in history behind Phil Jackson (333 games) but ahead of Pat Riley (282 games). Of those 284 games, he has won 170 - the third-best performance, behind Jackson (229 wins) and Riley (171 wins) - for 114 losses, making him the coach with the most playoff losses ahead of Doc Rivers (112) and Riley (111).