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Gregg Popovich

Popovich speaking at the White House in 2015
San Antonio Spurs
Position	Head coach President
League	NBA
Personal information
Born	(1949-01-28) January 28, 1949 (age 75) East Chicago, Indiana, U.S.
Listed height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Career information
High school	Merrillville (Merrillville, Indiana)
College	Air Force (1966–1970)
Position	Guard
Coaching career	1973–present
Career history
As coach:
1973–1979	Air Force (assistant)
1979–1986	Pomona-Pitzer
1986–1987	Kansas (assistant)
1987–1988	Pomona-Pitzer
1988–1992	San Antonio Spurs (assistant)
1992–1994	Golden State Warriors (assistant)
1996–present	San Antonio Spurs
Career highlights and awards
As head coach: 5× NBA champion (1999, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2014) 3× NBA Coach of the Year (2003, 2012, 2014) 4× NBA All-Star Game head coach (2005, 2011, 2013, 2016) 3× SCIAC champion (1980–1982) Top 15 Coaches in NBA History
Basketball Hall of Fame
Medals Men's basketball Representing the  United States Olympic Games Head coach for the  United States 2020 Tokyo Team Assistant coach for the  United States 2004 Athens Men's basketball FIBA Americas Championship Assistant coach for the  United States 2003 San Juan Men's basketball

Gregg Charles Popovich (born January 28, 1949) is an American professional basketball coach and executive who is the president and head coach for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Popovich has been a member of the Spurs organization since 1994, as president of basketball operations and general manager before taking over as coach of the Spurs in 1996. Popovich is the longest tenured active coach in the NBA as well as all other major sports leagues in the United States. Nicknamed "Coach Pop", Popovich has the most wins of any coach in NBA history, and is widely regarded as one of the greatest coaches in NBA history.

Popovich led the Spurs to a winning record in his first 22 full seasons as head coach, surpassing Phil Jackson for the most consecutive winning seasons in NBA history. During his tenure, the Spurs have had a winning record against every other NBA team, being a key figure of the sustained success of the Spurs throughout the 1990s, the 2000s, and most of the 2010s. Popovich has led the Spurs to all five of their NBA titles, and is one of only five coaches in NBA history to have won five titles. He was also the head coach of the U.S. national team at the 2020 Summer Olympics, leading the team to a gold medal. In 2023, Popovich was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Early life

Popovich was born on January 28, 1949, in East Chicago, Indiana, to a Serbian father and Croatian mother. He graduated from Merrillville High School in 1966.

College career

Popovich attended the United States Air Force Academy. He played on the academy's Air Force Falcons men's basketball team, and in his senior year was the team's captain and leading scorer. He graduated from the Academy in 1970 with a bachelor's degree in Soviet studies. Popovich underwent Air Force intelligence training and briefly considered a career with the Central Intelligence Agency.

Popovich served five years of required active duty in the United States Air Force, during which he toured Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union with the U.S. Armed Forces Basketball Team. In 1972, he was selected as captain of the Armed Forces Team, which won the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) championship. This earned the 6-foot-2-inch (1.88 m) guard an invitation to the 1972 U.S. Olympic Basketball Team trials.

Coaching career

Pomona-Pitzer and early career (1973–1994)

In 1973, Popovich returned to the Air Force Academy as an assistant coach under the school's head basketball coach Hank Egan. Egan later became an assistant coach under Popovich for the San Antonio Spurs. During his time as an assistant coach at the Academy, Popovich earned a master's degree in physical education and sports sciences from the University of Denver.

In 1979, Popovich was named the head coach of the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens, the joint men's basketball team of Pomona College and Pitzer College in Claremont, California. Popovich coached the Pomona-Pitzer men's basketball team from 1979 to 1988, leading the team to its first outright title in 68 years.

During his time as head coach at Pomona-Pitzer, Popovich became a disciple and later a close friend of head coach Larry Brown at the University of Kansas. Popovich took off the 1985–86 season at Pomona-Pitzer to become a volunteer assistant at Kansas, where he could study directly under Brown. Popovich returned to Pomona-Pitzer and resumed his duties as head coach the next season.

Following the 1987–88 season, Popovich joined Brown as the lead assistant coach for the Spurs. From 1988 to 1992, Popovich was Brown's top assistant, until the entire staff, including R. C. Buford, Alvin Gentry and Ed Manning, were fired by owner Red McCombs. Popovich moved to the Golden State Warriors for a brief stint in 1992, serving as an assistant under future Hall of Famer Don Nelson and bringing with him Avery Johnson, who had been cut by the Spurs.

San Antonio Spurs (1994–present)

In 1994, Popovich returned to San Antonio as the general manager and vice president of basketball operations after Peter Holt purchased the team. Popovich's first move was to sign Avery Johnson as the team's starting point guard. Another one of Popovich's early moves in San Antonio was to trade Dennis Rodman to the Chicago Bulls for Will Perdue. Rodman was not fond of Popovich, as Rodman said in his first book, Bad As I Wanna Be.

After the Spurs had a 3–15 start in the 1996–97 season, with David Robinson sidelined with a preseason back injury, Popovich fired coach Bob Hill on December 10, 1996, and named himself head coach. Robinson then broke his foot after only six games and was lost for the season. Sean Elliott was also limited to 39 games due to injury, and Chuck Person missed the entire season. With a reduced roster that included an aging Dominique Wilkins, the Spurs struggled and won only 17 games for the remainder of the season for an overall record of 20–62. The Spurs' disastrous season allowed them the first overall pick in the 1997 NBA draft, which they used to draft Tim Duncan out of Wake Forest University.

The Spurs blossomed as the 6'11" Duncan teamed up with the 7'1" Robinson in a "Twin Tower" offense and defense for several years. After recovering to win 56 games in 1997–1998 (Popovich's first full year as coach), the Spurs won their first NBA title in 1999.

In 2002, Popovich relinquished his position as general manager to R. C. Buford, who had served as the team's head scout. Popovich and Buford were both given their starts in the NBA in 1988 as assistants on Brown's coaching staff with the Spurs.

Popovich has won five championships with the Spurs—1999, 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2014. He was named NBA Coach of the Year in 2003, 2012, and 2014.

On April 4, 2008, Popovich returned to the U.S. Air Force Academy to receive the academy's award of Distinguished Graduate. Despite his four NBA titles at the time, Popovich said it was the most meaningful award he had ever received.

On May 2, 2012, Popovich won his second Coach of the Year Award for the 2011–12 NBA season.

On November 29, 2012, Popovich sat out starters Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginóbili, and Danny Green for a nationally televised game against the Miami Heat. Popovich frequently sat out his starters on road trips over the years to ensure they have enough rest for the playoffs; the Spurs' roster was among the oldest in the league. NBA commissioner David Stern was outraged by this and said on the night of the game that it was "unacceptable", and "substantial sanctions be forthcoming". On November 30, Stern fined the Spurs $250,000 for what he called "a disservice to the league and the fans". According to Stern, Popovich had not informed the Heat, the league or the media in a suitable time frame that the four players were not making the trip to Miami. Stern's decision was criticized by commentator Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, who said, "Stern doesn't care about the realities of his league, just the appearances. To him, the appearance on Thursday night was that Popovich had tried to embarrass him on national television and that's why the commissioner tossed that tantrum."

Popovich led the Spurs to the 2013 NBA Finals to face the Miami Heat. The series lasted seven games, but the Spurs had their first-ever Finals loss.

On April 22, 2014, Popovich was awarded the Red Auerbach Trophy as he won the NBA Coach of the Year for the third time. He also won his fifth NBA championship with San Antonio that season, beating the Heat 4–1 in the Finals.

On February 9, 2015, Popovich became the ninth coach in NBA history to win 1,000 games when the Spurs defeated the Indiana Pacers 95–93. He and Jerry Sloan are the only two coaches in NBA history to win 1,000 games with one franchise.

On August 1, 2015, Popovich served as Team Africa's head coach at the 2015 NBA Africa exhibition game.

In the 2015–16 season, Popovich led the Spurs to a franchise-high 67 wins, but he and the team lost in the conference semifinals against the Oklahoma City Thunder in six games.

On February 4, 2017, Popovich recorded his 1,128th regular season win with one franchise, surpassing Sloan.

On April 13, 2019, Popovich surpassed Lenny Wilkens and became the all-time winningest coach in NBA history with his 1,413th win (regular season and playoffs combined).

Popovich supported the comments from NBA commissioner Adam Silver surrounding the controversy with the NBA and China.

On January 26, 2020, the Spurs hosted the Toronto Raptors just hours after a California helicopter crash claimed the lives of nine people, including NBA legend Kobe Bryant and his 13–year-old daughter Gianna, and Popovich proposed that both teams take an intentional 24-second shot clock violation on each of their first possessions to pay homage to Bryant's jersey number 24, which he donned from 2006 to 2016. This violation tribute would subsequently be executed at the beginning of nearly every game around the league over the rest of that day and the following days, with other teams also deciding to take an 8-second backcourt violation, commemorating Bryant's jersey number 8, which he wore from 1996 to 2006.

On March 27, 2021, after leading his team to a 120–104 victory against the Chicago Bulls, Popovich won his 1,300th regular season game and became the third NBA coach to reach the milestone.

On March 11, 2022, Popovich surpassed Don Nelson for most regular season wins of all time, notching his 1,336th regular season victory with the Spurs. Popovich needed 370 fewer games than Nelson to achieve this record.

On July 8, 2023, Popovich signed a five-year contract extension, keeping him with the franchise through the 2027–28 season. On November 4, due to health issues is forced to take an indefinitely break from coaching the team. His assistent Mitch Johnson will coach the team for an indefinite period.

National team career

Popovich served on the coaching staff for the U.S. men's national team during the 2002 FIBA World Championship (assisting George Karl), during the 2003 FIBA America Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament, and during the Athens 2004 Olympic Games (assisting Larry Brown), where the U.S. team won the bronze medal.

On October 23, 2015, Popovich was named the head coach of the U.S. men's national team, taking over from Mike Krzyzewski after the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

At the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup, the U.S. national team finished in seventh place, its worst finish ever in international competition.

With Popovich serving as the head coach for the U.S. men's national team, he led the team to a gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, going 5–1 and defeating France 87–82 in the final.

Personal life

Popovich was married to Erin Popovich until her death on April 18, 2018; the couple had two children. He is a serious wine collector, and an investor in Oregon's A to Z Wineworks.

On multiple occasions, Popovich has spoken out on behalf of social justice issues, including in support of the 2017 Women's March. He also repeatedly criticized the behavior of former U.S. President Donald Trump. Popovich endorsed Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.

Humanitarian work

Popovich has spent considerable time and money working with several charities and nonprofits such as the San Antonio Food Bank and the Innocence Project. He also took part in Shoes That Fit, an organization that aims to deliver shoes to more than 200 students at Gates Elementary School affected by Hurricanes Irma and Maria. Popovich is helping raise funds for J/P HRO, a disaster relief program that operates in Haiti, and various disaster relief organizations in the U.S. and Caribbean.

Head coaching record

College

NBA

National team

Source:

See also

• List of NBA championship head coaches
• Sports portal

References

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5. "Devin Brown And Coach Pop Spread Message To Local Youth". NBA.com. February 1, 2004. Archived from the original on July 27, 2008. Retrieved March 5, 2008.
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13. Wojnarowski, Adrian (June 10, 2007). "'Pop' art". Yahoo! Sports. Sometimes, you get the idea that Popovich is fighting a war within himself. "He's even got the Serbo-Croatian conflict going on", Buford said. "His mother was Croatian and his father was Serbian. That's the battle he faces internally."
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19. ^ "Gregg Popovich doubles down on Trump criticism: 'Some days, I feel like we've been invaded'". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 4, 2019. Popovich, whose degree is in Soviet studies, at one point considered working for the CIA.
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29. Adrian Wojnarowski (November 30, 2012). "David Stern stumbles again in his failed culture war against the Spurs, fines franchise $250K". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved October 2, 2016.
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31. "NBA stars, legends shine as Team World rallies to beat Team Africa". ESPN. August 1, 2015. Retrieved October 2, 2016.
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34. "NBA's Gregg Popovich rips Trump, defends Adam Silver over China". Fox Business. October 15, 2019.
35. "Gregg Popovich offers support for NBA commissioner Adam Silver on NBA-China showdown". USA Today. October 9, 2019.
36. "NBA teams pay tribute to late Kobe Bryant with 24-second and 8-second violations". USA Today. January 26, 2020.
37. Wright, Michael C. (March 27, 2021). "Gregg Popovich becomes 3rd coach in NBA history to reach 1,300 wins". NBA.com. Retrieved March 30, 2021.
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47. "Spurs announce that Gregg Popovich's wife Erin Popovich has died". April 19, 2018.
48. Steiman, Harvey (July 5, 2006). "That Li'l Ol' Winemaker, Popovich". Wine Spectator. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
49. Cacciola, Scott (November 12, 2016). "Emboldened N.B.A. Coaches Rip Donald J. Trump's Rhetoric". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 15, 2017.
50. Babb, Kent (February 17, 2017). "Gregg Popovich has found the opponent of his life: President Trump". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 15, 2017.
51. Savransky, Rebecca (May 14, 2017). "Spurs coach Gregg Popovich goes after 'embarrassing' President Trump". The Hill. Retrieved May 15, 2017.
52. Mendoza, Madalyn; Rohlin, Melissa (September 25, 2017). "Popovich slams Trump's 'childishness,' 'gratuitous fear-mongering' after political sports weekend". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
53. Mendoza, Madalyn (November 12, 2020). "Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich endorses Joe Biden for U.S. President". MySanAntonio.com. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
54. "Popovich: If you're 'rich as hell,' give to charity". December 27, 2017.
55. "Gregg Popovich stands up for charity: 'We're rich as hell, and we don't need it all'". December 27, 2017.
56. "1986 Division III men's basketball tournament". D3hoops. Retrieved October 2, 2016.
57. "Gregg Popovich". USA Basketball. Archived from the original on July 3, 2021. Retrieved July 3, 2021.

External links

• Gregg Popovich at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
• NBA.com profile
• Profile as a coach
• Gregg Popovich – college basketball player profile at Sports Reference

Links to related articles

v t e San Antonio Spurs general managers Robert Briner (1971–1973) Jack Ankerson (1973–1974) John Begzos (1974–1979) Bob Bass (1979–1994) Gregg Popovich (1994–2002) R. C. Buford (2002–2019) Brian Wright (2019–present) v t e San Antonio Spurs head coaches Cliff Hagan (1967–1970) Max Williams (1970) Bill Blakeley (1970–1971) Tom Nissalke (1971–1972) Babe McCarthy (1972–1973) Tom Nissalke (1973–1974) Dave Brown # (1973) Bob Bass (1974–1976) Doug Moe (1976–1980) Bob Bass (1980) Stan Albeck (1980–1983) Morris McHone (1983) Bob Bass (1983–1984) Cotton Fitzsimmons (1984–1986) Bob Weiss (1986–1988) Larry Brown (1988–1992) Bob Bass (1992) Jerry Tarkanian (1992) Rex Hughes # (1992) John Lucas II (1992–1994) Bob Hill (1994–1996) Gregg Popovich (1996– ) # denotes interim head coach v t e San Antonio Spurs 1998–99 NBA champions 2 Jackson 4 Kerr 6 Johnson 10 Gaze 11 Williams 17 Elie 21 Duncan (Finals MVP) 25 Kersey 31 Rose 32 Elliott 33 Daniels 41 Perdue 50 Robinson 54 King Head coach Popovich Assistant coaches Budenholzer Egan Pressey Prunty Regular season Playoffs v t e San Antonio Spurs 2002–03 NBA champions 3 Jackson 8 Smith 9 Parker 10 Claxton 12 Bowen 20 Ginóbili 21 Duncan (Finals MVP) 25 Kerr 31 Rose 34 Bateer 35 Ferry 42 Willis 50 Robinson Head coach Gregg Popovich Assistant coaches Brown Budenholzer Carlesimo Prunty Regular season Playoffs v t e San Antonio Spurs 2004–05 NBA champions 2 Mohammed 3 Robinson 4 Marks 5 Horry 8 Nesterović 9 Parker 11 Wilks 12 Bowen 14 Udrih 17 Barry 20 Ginóbili 21 Duncan (Finals MVP) 23 D. Brown 34 Massenburg 43 Johnson Head coach Popovich Assistant coaches B. Brown Budenholzer Carlesimo Newman Prunty Regular season Playoffs v t e San Antonio Spurs 2006–07 NBA champions 2 Ely 4 Finley 5 Horry 7 Oberto 9 Parker (Finals MVP) 11 Vaughn 12 Bowen 14 Udrih 15 Bonner 16 Elson 17 Barry 20 Ginóbili 21 Duncan 33 White 45 Butler Head coach Popovich Assistant coaches Brown Budenholzer Carlesimo Engelland Newman Regular season Playoffs v t e San Antonio Spurs 2013–14 NBA champions 2 Leonard (Finals MVP) 3 Belinelli 4 Green 5 Joseph 7 James 8 Mills 9 Parker 11 Ayres 15 Bonner 16 Baynes 20 Ginóbili 21 Duncan 22 Splitter 23 Daye 33 Diaw Head coach Popovich Assistant coaches Boylen Engelland Forcier Marks Udoka Regular season Playoffs v t e United States men's basketball squad – 2020 Summer Olympics – Gold medal 4 Johnson 5 LaVine 6 Lillard 7 Durant 8 Middleton 9 Grant 10 Tatum 11 McGee 12 Holiday 13 Adebayo 14 Green 15 Booker Coach: Popovich v t e NBA Coach of the Year Award 1963: Gallatin 1964: Hannum 1965: Auerbach 1966: Schayes 1967: J. Kerr 1968: Guerin 1969: Shue 1970: Holzman 1971: Motta 1972: Sharman 1973: Heinsohn 1974: R. Scott 1975: P. Johnson 1976: Fitch 1977: Nissalke 1978: H. Brown 1979: Fitzsimmons 1980: Fitch 1981: McKinney 1982: Shue 1983: Nelson 1984: Layden 1985: Nelson 1986: Fratello 1987: Schuler 1988: Moe 1989: Fitzsimmons 1990: Riley 1991: Chaney 1992: Nelson 1993: Riley 1994: Wilkens 1995: Harris 1996: Jackson 1997: Riley 1998: Bird 1999: Dunleavy 2000: Rivers 2001: L. Brown 2002: Carlisle 2003: Popovich 2004: H. Brown 2005: D'Antoni 2006: A. Johnson 2007: Mitchell 2008: B. Scott 2009: M. Brown 2010: Brooks 2011: Thibodeau 2012: Popovich 2013: Karl 2014: Popovich 2015: Budenholzer 2016: S. Kerr 2017: D'Antoni 2018: Casey 2019: Budenholzer 2020: Nurse 2021: Thibodeau 2022: Williams 2023: M. Brown 2024: Daigneault v t e National Basketball Association's Top 15 Coaches in NBA History (2021-22) Red Auerbach Larry Brown Chuck Daly Red Holzman Phil Jackson K. C. Jones Steve Kerr Don Nelson Gregg Popovich Jack Ramsay Pat Riley Doc Rivers Jerry Sloan Erik Spoelstra Lenny Wilkens v t e Members of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Players Guards R. Allen Archibald Barnett Beckman Belov Billups Bing Blazejowski Borgmann Braun Brennan Bryant Carter Cervi Cheeks Clayton Cooper-Dyke Cousy Dampier Davies Drexler Dumars Edwards Endacott Frazier Friedman Galis Gervin Ginóbili Goodrich Greer Grentz Guerin Hammon Hanson Hardaway Haynes Holman Hyatt Isaacs Iverson Jeannette Jenkins D. Johnson M. Johnson K. Jones S. Jones Jordan Kidd Lieberman Maravich Marcari Marčiulionis Martin McDermott McGrady D. McGuire Meyers R. Miller Moncrief Monroe Moore C. Murphy Nash Page Parker Payton Petrović Phillip Posey Richmond Robertson Rodgers Roosma J. Russell Schommer Scott Sedran Sharman K. Smith Staley Steinmetz Stockton Swoopes Thomas D. Thompson Timms Vandivier Wade Wanzer Weatherspoon West Westphal Whalen J. White Wilkens Woodard Wooden Forwards Arizin Augustus Barkley Barry Baylor Bird Bosh Boswell Bradley R. Brown Cash Catchings C. Cooper M. Cooper Cunningham Curry Dalipagić Dandridge Dantley Davis DeBusschere Dehnert Duncan English Erving Foster Fulks Gale Garnett Gasol Gates Gola Hagan Havlicek Hawkins Hayes Haywood Heinsohn Hill Howell Hudson L. Jackson G. Johnson B. Jones King Korać Kukoč Lucas Luisetti K. Malone McClain B. McCracken J. McCracken McGinnis McHale Mikkelsen C. Miller Mullin Nowitzki Pettit Pierce Pippen Pollard Pullins Radja Ramsey Rodman Schayes E. Schmidt O. Schmidt Stokes C. Thompson T. Thompson Twyman Walker Webber N. White Wilkes Wilkins Worthy Yardley Centers Abdul-Jabbar Barlow Beaty Bellamy Chamberlain T. Cooper Ćosić Cowens Crawford Daniels DeBernardi Divac Donovan Ewing Gallatin Gilmore Griffith Gruenig Harris-Stewart Houbregs Issel Jackson W. Johnson Johnston M. Krause Kurland Lanier Leslie Lovellette Lapchick Macauley Maciel M. Malone McAdoo Meneghin Mikan Mourning S. Murphy Mutombo Olajuwon O'Neal Parish Reed Risen Robinson B. Russell Sabonis Sampson Semjonova Sikma Thurmond Unseld Wachter Wallace Walton Washington Yao Coaches Adelman Alexeeva P. Allen Anderson Auerbach Auriemma Barmore Barry Bess Blair Blood Boeheim L. Brown Calhoun Calipari Cann Carlson Carnesecca Carnevale Carril Case Chancellor Chaney Conradt Crum Daly Dean Díaz-Miguel Diddle Drake Driesell Ferrándiz Fitch Fitzsimmons Gaines Gamba Gardner Gaze Gill Gomelsky Gunter Hannum Harshman Haskins Hatchell Heinsohn Hickey Hixon Hobson Holzman Huggins Hughes Hurley Iba Izzo P. Jackson Julian Karl Keady Keaney Keogan Knight Krzyzewski Kundla Lambert Leonard Lewis Litwack Loeffler Lonborg Magee McCutchan McGraw A. McGuire F. McGuire McLendon Meanwell Meyer Miller Moore Mulkey Nelson Nikolić Novosel Olson Pitino Popovich Ramsay Redin Richardson Riley Rubini Rupp Rush B. Russell Ryan Sachs Self Sharman Shelton Sloan C. Smith D. Smith Stanley Stevens Stringer Summitt Sutton Tarkanian Taylor Teague J. Thompson Tomjanovich VanDerveer Wade Watts Wilkens G. Williams R. Williams Wooden Woolpert Wootten Wright Yow Contributors Abbott Ackerman Attles Barksdale Baumann Bee Biasone H. Brown W. Brown Bunn Buss Clifton Colangelo Collins Costello Davidson Douglas Duer Embry Fagan Fisher Fleisher Garfinkel Gavitt Gottlieb Granik Gulick Harris Harrison Hearn Henderson Hepp Hickox Hinkle Irish M. Jackson Jernstedt R. Jones Kennedy Knight J. Krause Lemon Liston Lloyd Lobo McLendon Mokray Morgan Morgenweck Naismith Newell Newton J. O'Brien L. O'Brien Olsen Podoloff Porter Raveling Reid Reinsdorf Ripley Sanders Saperstein Schabinger Simon St. John Stagg Stanković Steitz Stern Taylor Thorn Tower Trester Valvano Vitale Wells Welts West Wilke Winter Zollner Referees Bavetta Enright Evans Garretson Hepbron Hoyt Kennedy Leith Mihalik Nichols Nucatola Quigley Rudolph Shirley Strom Tobey Walsh Teams 1948–1982 Wayland Baptist women's teams 1956–57 Tennessee A&I State men's team 1957–58 Tennessee A&I State men's team 1958–59 Tennessee A&I State men's team 1960 United States men's Olympic team 1965–66 Texas Western men's team 1976 United States women's Olympic team 1992 United States men's Olympic team All-American Red Heads Buffalo Germans The First Team Harlem Globetrotters Immaculata College New York Renaissance Original Celtics v t e Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2023 Players Pau Gasol Becky Hammon Dirk Nowitzki Tony Parker Dwyane Wade Coaches Gene Bess Gary Blair David Hixon Gene Keady Gregg Popovich Contributors Jim Valvano Teams 1976 United States women's Olympic team

• 1949 births
• Living people
• Air Force Falcons men's basketball coaches
• Air Force Falcons men's basketball players
• American men's basketball coaches
• American men's basketball players
• Olympic coaches for the United States
• American people of Croatian descent
• American people of Serbian descent
• Basketball coaches from Indiana
• Basketball players from Indiana
• Golden State Warriors assistant coaches
• Guards (basketball)
• Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees
• NBA championship–winning head coaches
• People from Merrillville, Indiana
• Pomona College faculty
• San Antonio Spurs head coaches
• Sportspeople from East Chicago, Indiana
• Sportspeople from San Antonio
• United States men's national basketball team coaches