Gregg Popovich is one of the best coaches in basketball history, having led the San Antonio Spurs to five NBA championships since 1999. He is apparently compensated accordingly.
In a recent piece about the future of the Spurs, ESPN’s March Stein noted that Popovich is rumored to be making somewhere in the range of $11 million per season.
For the record, furthermore, don’t forget that Popovich only just completed the first season of a five-year contract. Word is he contemplated retirement after last season’s championship with more seriousness than any of us on the outside realized, but Pop didn’t just agree to keep coaching. He consented to sign that long-term deal which, according to industry insiders, pays in the $11 million range annually.
That figure — if accurate — would make Popovich one of the highest-paid coaches in American professional sports. New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick probably makes something close to that, though we don’t know for sure. Los Angeles Clippers coach Doc Rivers signed a contract extension last year that will pay him $10 million annually, so he’s right there behind Pop.
As Dan Feldman of Pro Basketball Talk notes, the only player on the Spurs roster currently making more than $11 million per year is Tony Parker.
Does he deserve it? Aside from being a master in the art of embarrassing sideline reporters, Popovich is also a phenomenal motivator and X’s and O’s guy. He’s already one of the five-best NBA coaches of all time.
Pop deserves whatever the Spurs are willing to pay him.
