Gregg Popovich greeted his latest career milestone with his usual self-deprecation and deflection, insisting he only achieves these records because he is old.
Friends and players rarely disagree with the San Antonio Spurs' emotional coach. But, they did this time.
Popovich tied the NBA record for the most career wins with a single franchise, earning his 1,127th in the Spurs' 102-86 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday night.
Popovich matched Jerry Sloan of Utah for the league mark, but did so while saying he's not the equal of the coach who resigned in 2011 after 23 seasons with the Jazz.
"He's in a different league than me," Popovich said.
Philadelphia coach and former Boomers mentor Brett Brown said that's nonsense. He spent 11 seasons with San Antonio before joining the 76ers and is one of Popovich's closest friends.
"In 2017, where professional sports are so ruthless and cutthroat, survival rates and people that can last are rare," Brown said. "He would say, 'Well, that must mean I'm old.' I think it means he's good, really good."
Popovich's abilities are evident this season. San Antonio has seven new players on its roster and lost franchise stalwart Tim Duncan to retirement in the offseason.
Despite the turnover, the Spurs maintained the league's second-best record at 38-11 with their 12th straight victory at home over Philadelphia and 11th straight overall against the 76ers.
Kawhi Leonard scored 19 points and Dewayne Dedmon had 13 points and 10 rebounds for his second double-double for the Spurs.
"I think Dewayne Dedmon was the star of the show tonight," Popovich said. "Everything he did was great."
The 76ers' frontcourt got 25 points and 10 rebounds from Ersan Ilyasova, and Dario Saric added 14 points.
In other matches Stephen Curry scored 29 points despite making just three three-pointers and Kevin Durant added 26 points and 10 assists as the Golden State Warriors defeated the Los Angeles Clippers 133-120 for their fifth straight victory on Thursday night.
Blake Griffin had 31 points, making 11 of 13 free throws, for the Clippers. They have lost nine in a row to their Bay Area opponents, the franchise's longest active skid against a single team.
The rematch wasn't the debacle that occurred last weekend when the Clippers lost by 46 points at Golden State but it was a comfortable win nonetheless for the Warriors.
Elsewhere the Washington Wizrds made it a night to forget for LA basketball fans with a 116-108 win over the Lakers while the Atlanta Hawks overcame a 13-point final quarter deficit to beat the Houston Rockets 113-108.
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