Gregg Popovich’s all-time career record as San Antonio Spurs head coach has been adjusted by the NBA.
According to Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press, the Spurs and the league worked together to update Popovich’s record to remove the 77 games he missed last season after suffering a stroke in early November.
Popovich now has 1,390 career wins and 824 losses — the totals that he had on Nov. 2 when he stepped away from coaching.
The Spurs announced on May 2 that Popovich, 76, would step down as head coach and transition into the role of full-time team president. One of Popovich’s assistants, Mitch Johnson, who took over on an interim basis and went 32-45, was hired as head coach.
“While my love and passion for the game remain, I’ve decided it’s time to step away as head coach,” Popovich said in a team statement. “I’m forever grateful to the wonderful players, coaches, staff and fans who allowed me to serve them as the Spurs head coach and am excited for the opportunity to continue to support the organization, community and city that are so meaningful to me.”
The adjustment to Popovich’s record won’t affect the NBA’s record books. The longtime Spurs coach is still the winningest coach in league history and is now 53 wins ahead of Don Nelson’s 1,335. His career winning percentage gets a bump from .621 to .628, a number that is seventh in league history among coaches with at least 400 games.
This isn’t the first time the NBA has had to make an adjustment to a coach’s win-loss record. As Reynolds noted, after Los Angeles Lakers head coach Jack McKinney was injured in a bicycle accident after 14 games during the 1979-80 season, Paul Westhead took over and led the team to a 50-18 record. Those 68 games in charge were eventually credited to Westhead.
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