The San Antonio Spurs on Monday introduced Mitch Johnson as their new head coach. Johnson is officially taking over for Gregg Popovich, who is transitioning to a leadership role in the front office.
The 76-year-old Popovich has dealt with multiple health issues over the past several months. He suffered a stroke in November 2024, which led to Johnson becoming the Spurs’ interim head coach for the entire season. Then in mid-April, another report said that Popovich had suffered a medical emergency while at a restaurant.
The stroke and recently medical emergency seem to have affected Popovich physically. The longtime coach had to be helped as he stood up to walk to the podium by two of his former players, Manu Ginobili and Tim Duncan, to make his speech to the media on Monday. Popovich was moving slowly as he made his way there.
Gregg Popovich speaks for the first time. He has all the confidence in new @spurs Head Coach Mitch Johnson. What a moment pic.twitter.com/5nEJAwvrM6
— Jacob Tobey (@JacobRTobey) May 5, 2025
Popovich will now be serving as the president of basketball operations for the Spurs. That follows his coaching career with the team, which spanned from 1996-2025. Popovich led the Spurs to five championships as a head coach and was the NBA Coach of the Year three times.
A member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Popovich has also won a gold medal as the head coach of the U.S. national basketball team.
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