As talked about beforehand, an article entitled “Pop’s Unimaginable Longevity” revealed that San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich has coached towards 307 totally different NBA coaches throughout his twenty-eight yr tenure on the helm.
For the reason that firing of Bob Hill in 1996, Pop has constantly coached the Spurs, give or take an ejection or two. Tonight he faces the Toronto Raptors, whose franchise is just one season longer than Pop’s yr rely as Spurs head coach.
However not like the Spurs, the Raptors have had eight head coaches which have confronted Pop previous to tonight’s sport.
Darrell Walker (1996-1998) began with the Raptors as an assistant and took excessive of the second season in Toronto after Brendan Malone coached solely their inaugural yr. He lasted by way of the All-Star Break in 1998 earlier than resigning with an 11-38 file.
Butch Carter (1998-2000) took over for Walker seeing the Raptors by way of the top of the season with 5-28 file. He additionally went from assistant to interim to go coach, however solely stayed on for an extra two seasons, simply lengthy sufficient to see the Raptors first profitable season and playoff berth.
Ending over .500 and seeing the postseason was not sufficient to maintain Carter employed and the reigns have been handed on to Corridor of Fame coach Lenny Wilkins.
From 2000-2003, Wilkins noticed the decline in Toronto going from 47 wins to 42 and at last 24 in his third and ultimate season.
Kevin O’Neill (2003-2004) served one lone season riddled with harm and ending in his being fired for questioning the crew’s dedication to profitable.
Sam Mitchell (2004-2008) was introduced in because the crew was rebuilding. He led the crew to their first ever division title as they received the Atlantic Division within the NBA’s Japanese Convention within the 2006–07 season. In consequence, Mitchell was named NBA Coach of the Yr. After main the Raptors to their first playoffs look in 5 years, Mitchell signed a four-year contract. On December 8, 2008, Mitchell was fired after a disappointing begin to the season.
Jay Triano (2008-2011) had been with the Raptors as an assistant since 2002. He’d served underneath Wilkins, O’Neill, and Mitchell, changing the latter in 2008 after the sluggish begin. The rest of his foray into head teaching didn’t fare effectively as he led the crew to 25-40 with the remaining video games. His second season noticed them simply shy of constructing the playoffs and his third season was derailed by Chris Bosh’s exit to Miami. The Raptors didn’t decide up the ultimate yr on Triano’s contract, however named him the vice-president of professional scouting, preserving him with the group.
2011 introduced in Dwane Casey, who turned their longest serving head coach. Exterior of the 51-31 2016-2017 season file, Casey had elevated the crew each season. In Casey’s ultimate season with the Raptors, he led the crew to a franchise greatest 59-23, being swept within the Japanese Convention Semifinals by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Sarcastically, he was fired simply days after being named the NBA Coach of the Yr.
His tenure was adopted by Nick Nurse (2018-2023) who benefitted from the addition of Kawhi Leonard and Danny Inexperienced becoming a member of the crew by way of a commerce throughout the summer time. Nurse had been an assistant to Casey and credited with the improved offensive prowess involving the three-point capturing. In his first season as head coach, the Raptors win their first NBA Championship.
With the title got here the departure of the Kawhi Leonard, and the Raptors have been trying to achieve their footing ever since.
In April of 2023, after the crew didn’t make the playoffs as a consequence of their loss to the Chicago Bulls within the Play-in Event, the Raptors introduced that Nick Nurse was fired,
This afternoon, Pop faces his ninth adversary from the lone remaining Canadian NBA crew (trivia: who was the opposite Canadian growth crew that entered with the Raptors?).
Darko Rajakovic dove into his first head teaching NBA place this season after 9 seasons helping in OKC, Phoenix, and Memphis. His final head teaching place was again in 2012-2014 with the D-League Tulsa 66ers, a precursor to the Oklahoma Metropolis Blue and his doorway into the large league as an assistant.
Who stands out probably the most from this record throughout your tenure as a Spurs diehard fan?
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