Gregg Popovich agrees to 5-year extension reportedly worth more than $80 million to remain Spurs head coach
Gregg Popovich, the NBA's winningest coach ever, is once again the league's highest-paid head coach.
The longtime San Antonio Spurs head coach agreed to a five-year deal worth more than $80 million Saturday, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. That salary pushes Popovich past Detroit Pistons head coach Monty Williams for the NBA's richest coaching deal.
Popovich was previously second behind Williams on the list of the NBA's highest coaching salaries with $11.5 million per season.
It's not hard to see why Popovich would receive such a raise, even when he's 74 years old and nine years removed from his last NBA championship.
The Spurs have struggled through the post-Tim Duncan era for several years now, but have their chance to return to the NBA elite with French phenom Victor Wembanyama, the first overall pick of the 2023 NBA Draft who has been hyped as a generational talent.
Wembanyama was clearly elated when the Spurs won the draft lottery and Popovich was a clear reason why — the coach has seen immense success with players from outside of the United States, including with Wembanyama's countrymen Tony Parker and Boris Diaw. Assimilating Wembanyama into an NBA culture is important with everything at stake, and a coach like Popovich helps with that.
Popovich tops the NBA's all-time wins list with 1,366, plus five championships and three NBA Coach of the Year awards. With Duncan and David Robinson, he has shown he can develop No. 1 picks into not just stars, but Hall of Famers. With a guy like that already in place, it makes sense to ensure he stays in place.
