On Friday night, Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich became the NBA’s all-time winningest coach with his 1336th victory. Since then, Popovich has been getting congratulations from all kinds of people.
Lakers forward LeBron James is the latest person to celebrate Popovich’s achievement.
“Coach POP!!!!!!!!!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!! #1 ALL TIME WINS!!”
While James has never played for the Spurs, he did play for Popovich with Team USA. Popovich was an assistant coach on the 2004 national team, then took over for Mike Krzyzewski after the 2016 Olympic Games. James has played for Team USA three times, his first coming in 2004 with Popovich. The two did play each other in the Finals twice, in 2013 and ’14, each winning one a series a piece.
Popovich has also always had James’s back. In 2014, Popovich said anybody who doesn’t like James should “swim in a lake,” and on James’ 36th birthday, Popovich explained what makes him such a special player.
“He deserves a lot of credit for being the consummate professional, using every technique that he can and being on the cutting edge of things,” Popovich said via Mark Medina.
So despite never being on the same NBA team, these two have a clear mutual respect for each other.
