Gregg Popovich's record career: Tales of wine, loyalty, lots of laughs

By Melissa Rohlin
FOX Sports NBA Writer

Gregg Popovich lets most people see two sides of him.

He's either the most articulate man in the room, waxing poetic about his views on politics, wine or basketball. Or he's stern and intensely focused, answering sideline reporters' questions with one word — or, worse, a glare.

But anyone who actually knows the longtime San Antonio Spurs coach describes him very differently. 

With Popovich now one win away from passing Don Nelson's 1,335 victories to become the winningest NBA coach of all time — he tied the record Monday with the Spurs' 117-110 win over the Lakers — I asked a few people in his life about their favorite Popovich memories.

Without fail, there was a grin and an extended pause as they scanned through a library of memories of shared laughs and deep conversations, wondering which ones were appropriate to share.

Popovich is fiercely private, so much so that he has rejected interview requests from LeBron James and Bill Clinton. But anyone he allows in his sphere raves about his intense loyalty and incredible sense of humor.

Even though Popovich, 73, has led the Spurs to five championships and an NBA-record-tying 22 consecutive playoff appearances (1998-2020), he has always maintained that basketball is just a dumb game.

For him, it's the relationships he has built over the years that have made his success meaningful and inspired him to remain at the helm in San Antonio for 26 seasons.

To put Pop's record career in perspective, Indiana Pacers assistant coach Lloyd Pierce, Phoenix Suns coach Monty Williams and Milwaukee Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer shared the untold stories of who Popovich is behind the scenes.

Inside the legendary Popovich dinners

Everyone knows about Gregg Popovich's dinners. He invites a select group of players and coaches so the dynamics are just right. The restaurants are top-notch. The wine is free-flowing. The food is rich and scrumptious. Everyone lets their guard down. It's often a three-hour bonding affair.

But when Lloyd Pierce agreed to be on Popovich's staff for the U.S. men's national basketball team, he soon realized there was much he didn't know.

One night, after the team arrived in Sydney during the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup, Popovich organized a team dinner at 7 p.m. for the coaching staff. But at 4:30 p.m., Pierce saw Popovich dressed for dinner in the hotel lobby, chatting with the concierge. 

Pierce was confused. He turned to assistant coach Will Hardy and asked why in the world Popovich was ready so early.

"He goes, 'Yeah, he's JV-ing it,'" Pierce recalled. "I said, 'JV-ing it, what does that mean?' He goes, 'Well, our dinner is varsity. He goes to the JV dinner.'"

Pierce learned that Popovich shows up at restaurants hours before his guests, especially when he's trying out a new one. He's excited. He wants to meet the manager and the staff. He wants to taste the food and the wine. He wants to make sure everything is perfect when everyone else arrives.

"By the time we show up at 7, and the food is laid out, and the Pinot Grigio is chilled to the temperature he likes it, everything is ready for us, which makes the evening that much more special," Pierce said. "Anytime you hear about or read about or see Pop left an enormous tip at X restaurant, it's because he spent six hours there."

As for the conversations at those dinners, Pierce estimated that only around 15 minutes were spent talking basketball that night in Sydney. The rest of the nearly three hours was spent on anything and everything else.

One conversation especially stuck out to Pierce.

While sitting across the table from Popovich and Steve Kerr, Pierce finally had the opportunity to tell them how much their advocacy for social justice had inspired and empowered him.

"I studied how they operated in that position," Pierce said. "It was one of those things as a young coach, you try to steal as much as you can on the court. But I took it as it was an opportunity to steal as much as I could off the court."

During the two summers Pierce spent alongside Popovich, he learned many things about him. Popovich had always been one of his idols. Pierce called him "the greatest coach in our sport." But he had never played or worked for him before, so he didn't know what to expect when they first met.

Popovich surprised him in every way.

"After one encounter, you're just blown away that he's not an asshole," Pierce said. "He's not a micromanager. He's not the fearless leader. He's inviting. He's humble. He's appreciative. He's somewhat reserved and shy at times."

Pierce watched Popovich sign autographs, take photographs and chat with fans when they walked through the lobby of the Aria Resort and Casino in Las Vegas in 2019.

He saw Popovich command so much respect among the greatest basketball players in the world that he's convinced many of them agreed to play in the Olympic Games not just because they wanted to win a gold medal but mainly because they wanted to play for Popovich before he retires.

Pierce watched those players soak up as much time as possible with their coach, a rarity in the NBA.

"In Vegas, there was a time when KD [Kevin Durant] reached out and asked if [Pop] could educate him about wine," Pierce recalled. "Pop just jumped at the opportunity to take him out to dinner and have a bottle and really talk about the different wines and what's important to him. But really, it was an opportunity to spend time together."

Despite Popovich being at the helm of the national team, things didn't go smoothly at first.

The team finished in seventh at the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup. After that disappointing showing, everyone was counting down the days until they could redeem themselves at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, but the competition was postponed because of COVID. Finally, in 2021, they had their chance to prove themselves to the world.

When the United States lost its first two exhibition games against Nigeria and Australia, the panic alarms started blaring. Everyone was questioning whether the team was going to collapse. Was this going to be Popovich's greatest embarrassment as a coach?

But, of course, he righted the ship.

"He doubled down on how hard he wanted to coach them," Pierce said. "It started with KD, Draymond [Green], all the way down, Dame [Damian Lillard]. He had appropriate fear all along because he knew we weren't invincible."

The superstars allowed Popovich to scream at them. They wanted Pop to be Pop. They welcomed it.

After the United States defeated France to win the gold medal, Popovich called it one of the crowning achievements of his career. For him, it really meant something. He was a graduate of the Air Force Academy and served as an intelligence officer for five years. At one point, he contemplated joining the CIA. 

And 50 years ago, in 1972, he was cut from the Olympic basketball team.

Considering his background, the gold medal from the Tokyo Games meant the world to him.

"I think we were all excited to win a gold medal and coach the Olympics, but, more importantly, I think we all wanted to win it for Pop," Pierce said.

Which begs the question: Why does this man inspire everyone so much? Why do players and coaches want to win for him? When I asked Pierce, he answered my question with one of his own.

"How is someone able to be so demanding yet so loving?" Pierce said.

Since the Olympic Games, whenever Pierce and Popovich see each other, they immediately smile and shout the same word: gold.

Popovich has been a fierce advocate of Pierce ever since Mike Brown and Brett Brown recommended that Popovich choose him as an assistant on the national team staff. When Pierce was fired by the Atlanta Hawks in March 2021, in his third season as head coach, Popovich publicly defended him, dismissing that decision as "missing on a really good player in the draft or evaluating somebody wrongly."

He also called Pierce right away, wanting to make something crystal clear to him.

"Hey, I just want to let you know I think it's bulls---," Popovich told Pierce. "But also, I want to make sure you know that you're still part of the Olympic staff."

Pierce was hired as the lead assistant for the Pacers in July 2021. Through it all, having Popovich's stamp of approval has been deeply meaningful to him.

"It just validates what you're doing, keep doing," Pierce said. "And it's really that simple. Because if Pop approves, f--- everyone else."

"A great feel for situations and people"

Suns coach Monty Williams' relationship with Popovich began when he played for the Spurs from 1996 to '98, Popovich's first two seasons as a head coach in the NBA.

During that time, one moment stood out to Williams — and it had nothing to do with basketball.

One night after the team had dinner in Seattle, Williams and teammate Sean Elliott were in a cab when the driver started making inappropriate comments.

Williams, who is famously very measured, stormed out of the car.

"I wouldn't ride with the guy anymore," Williams said. "I got out in the middle of traffic in Seattle. I slammed the door and got out. I was going to walk back. I was that upset."

At the time, Popovich was in a limousine with some other players about two or three cars behind the cab. When Popovich saw Williams jump out of the car, he insisted his driver pull over.

There was no room in Popovich's limo for Williams. So he asked everyone to get out of the car so that Williams wouldn't walk alone. 

"He made everybody get out of the car service and walk with me," Williams said with a chuckle. "He knew me well enough to know if I was that upset, something must have been wrong."

What stood out to Williams most was that there were no questions asked. Popovich just had his back. There was unconditional support.

"That just sums him up," Williams said. "He just has a great feel for situations and people. And he didn't even know why I got out. I could've been wrong. ... But the more I thought about that, that's just who he's been to me and for me and my family for almost 30 years. I wouldn't be where I am without him."

Decades later, when Williams' wife of 20 years, Ingrid, died in a car accident in February 2016, Popovich was one of the first people who reached out.

Williams and his five children (ages 5 to 17 at the time) were devastated. Williams was then an assistant coach for the Oklahoma City Thunder, but he was too broken to continue. He took an indefinite leave of absence. A month later, he announced he wouldn't return.

Five months after that, the Spurs hired him as vice president of basketball operations, a job he held until he was ready to rejoin the coaching ranks as an assistant for the Philadelphia 76ers in 2018.

"He was right there with me and for me," Williams said of Popovich.

If it weren't for Popovich, Williams said, he wouldn't have even become a coach. After he retired from playing in 2003, he wanted to coach but struggled to find an opportunity.

He's not sure why it was so difficult. Maybe because he was a forward instead of a point guard. Or maybe because he was never a superstar in the NBA. Or maybe he just had bad luck.

But this much he knows for sure: When he was lost, it was Popovich who gave him a shot, inviting him to become an intern ahead of the 2005 championship season.

"He was the first person to say, 'Hey, you come sit in our gym and see if you like it,'" Williams recalled. "He basically said, 'We got you. We'll show you. We'll teach you.' Had he not done that, I wouldn't be in this position today."

You just gotta laugh

Popovich has a great sense of humor. He's hilarious, he loves to laugh, and he likes to be around people who are capable of laughing at themselves.

But what's not public knowledge is that Popovich has actually cut from his teams people whose sense of humor wasn't up to par.

"When he was evaluating players, or we were evaluating players, if they didn't have a sense of humor, they probably were not going to last in San Antonio," said Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer, who was an assistant on the Spurs from 1996 to 2013.

Budenholzer says Popovich looks at a sense of humor as a form of intelligence. He wants the people he's going to spend more time with than his own family throughout 82-game seasons to not take themselves too seriously.

If they can't laugh, they get the axe. In fact, Popovich sees a lack of humor as symptomatic of greater issues.

"It was like a scouting check you had to have," Budenholzer said. "Everybody talks about not having an ego — and that's a way to check. If people can't laugh at themselves, they don't have that self-deprecation that he has, that Tim [Duncan] has and Manu [Ginobili] and everybody [has]. Red flags go up."

Popovich likes to test reporters, too. Anyone who has covered Pop is wary of drawing his ire by asking a question he deems subpar. To which he'll inevitably reply: "Did you stay up all night thinking of that question?" 

If a reporter gets defensive, they'll receive a glare. But if reporters can make fun of themselves, Popovich will laugh, too.

Meanwhile, he more than does his part to keep things light and fun. For example, Popovich was recently asked by a reporter about his keys to success. His response: "Draft Tim Duncan. After that, stay alive."

Cameras have caught him telling Spurs players in huddles that the next one who misses a free throw has to buy him a new car. And when late sideline reporter Craig Sager would ask him a basketball-related question during games, Popovich would often respond by making fun of Sager's suit.

To earn Popovich's respect, you need a sense of humor.

"I will just tell you it's real," Budenholzer said. "It's a real check mark that you have to pass."

There are many other check marks the people around him have to pass, but no one is held to a higher standard than the one Popovich sets for himself.

When Popovich was general manager of the Spurs from 1994-95 through the first 18 games of the 1996-97 season, Budenholzer was shocked that he'd always be at the airport when the team landed, regardless of the hour.

"He would meet the team at 2 o'clock in the morning, 3 o'clock in the morning in the cold weather, whatever," Budenholzer said.

For Popovich, it was important to show his support for the players and coaches. Budenholzer said that highly unusual gesture meant the world to everyone on those teams.

"After a loss, nobody is there to say hi or greet you or pick you up — and win or lose, he was at the plane," Budenholzer said.

Popovich had the same approach when he became head coach of the team in 1996. Budenholzer pointed to how he handled the 2005 NBA Finals against the Detroit Pistons, in which the Spurs were embarrassed in Games 3 and 4, losing by 17 points and 31 points, respectively.

It was incredibly deflating, but Popovich stayed positive.

The team still went out to dinners. Popovich made everyone keep their head up. Budenholzer added that Popovich did some pretty "unique" things before Game 5, but he declined to divulge them.

Whatever happened, it worked.

After trailing the series 3-2, the Spurs clawed their way back to win the championship, beating the Pistons in a hard-fought Game 7. Budenholzer attributed that title to Popovich and how he handled things when the Spurs were seemingly against the ropes.

"We felt like the series was over," Budenholzer said. "He kept everybody together. We went to dinner, [and in] practices, the film, [he] just found a way to take the heaviness out of the moment and get everybody to find their best selves, which is usually a little bit lighthearted and laughing and having fun and getting ready to play a big game."

Budenholzer said Popovich's legacy is clear.

Throughout a coaching career that spans two-and-a-half decades, he has remained with the Spurs. And he has done it his way, espousing ball movement, humility and humor. He is unique, one of a kind. And so are his teams.

His recipe has worked.

And now, with Popovich on the verge of becoming the winningest NBA coach of all time, Budenholzer says that what has long been known by everyone will finally become official.

"To have a record that's tangible, that's real — nobody can argue that you weren't the greatest," he said.

Melissa Rohlin is an NBA writer for FOX Sports. She previously covered the league for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Times, the Bay Area News Group and the San Antonio Express-News. Follow her on Twitter @melissarohlin.