5 highest-paid coaches in NBA history

1. Gregg Popovich, San Antonio Spurs — 5 years, $80 million

No one in the league is more deserving of the title of highest-paid coach than Popovich, who just recently inked a deal that pays him $16 million per year. Now 74 years old, Popovich also functions as the president of the San Antonio Spurs and has been leading the team since 1996.

He's won an impressive 64.2 percent of his regular-season games for a total of 1,366. He's made the playoffs 22 times in his 28 seasons of coaching, most recently in 2018-19. The Spurs have been rebuilding since then, but now have a unicorn centerpiece in Victor Wembanyama, and it is possible that this is the final contract of Pop's coaching career, and what a career it has been. He has led the Spurs to six NBA Finals appearances, taking home five championships. He has won 17 Coach of the Month awards and won Coach of the Year three times.

Popovich is a living legend, and truly one of the game's all-time greatest coaches. He may not remain the richest coach for too much longer, but his salary relative to his peers has nothing to do with the unrivaled legacy he's created. Spurs fans have been fortunate to watch Popovich lead a dynasty that spanned three decades, and now, he'll wrap up his career by preparing the team for its next era of success.