On April 7, 2010, the Golden State Warriors defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves by nine points, marking a career milestone for then-head coach Don Nelson. As folks in Minnesota’s Target Center responded with polite applause,

Warriors players huddled around Nelson to celebrate his becoming the winningest coach in NBA history. Nelson had coached 31 years in the NBA, winning as many as 60 games a season and as few as 14. He would retire at the end of 2009-10 season with 1,335 career wins — a record that stands today. 

“I think it’s something that just happens if you’re in the league long enough and, if you’re able to get a bunch of wins, you got a shot at it,” Nelson said in a phone interview last week. “But a lot of guys don’t coach that long.”

A decade later, Gregg Popovich, Nelson’s former assistant and current head coach of the San Antonio Spurs, is the only active head coach within a stone’s throw of the record — 63 wins behind Nelson. But the NBA’s indefinite suspension of the season due to the spread of the coronavirus could make it difficult for Popovich to unseat Nelson as the league’s all-time winningest coach. After 24 years, it’s unclear how much longer Popovich, 71, will continue to coach.

As Nelson, 79, approaches Tuesday’s 10th anniversary of his passing Lenny Wilkens in regular-season wins, he says he wants his long-time friend Popovich to coach long enough to claim the record.

“I hope he gets it,” Nelson said. “I hope he gets it soon.”

Nelson first noticed Popovich in 1991, when Nelson’s Warriors beat the Larry Brown-led Spurs in the first round of the playoffs. Popovich was Brown’s top assistant, and Nelson came away from the five-game series impressed by Popovich’s ability to relate to players while also commanding their respect. Source : Mercurynews.com