Legendary coach of the San Antonio Spurs Gregg Popovich informed his team in an emotional meeting Thursday that he will not return to the sideline this season, the team announced.
Popovich’s future with the organization remains in limbo as he continues to make stride and recover from a mild stroke he suffered late last year. ESPN initially reported Popovich was unlikely to coach again this season on Saturday, February 22.
“I’ve decided not to return to the sidelines this season,” Popovich said in a statement issued Thursday. “Mitch Johnson and his staff have done a wonderful job and the resolve and professionalism the players have shown, sticking together during a challenging season, has been outstanding,” Popovich said in a statement. “I will continue to focus on my health with the hope that I can return to coaching in the future.”
Sources told ESPN that tears were shed from those in the room during Thursday’s meeting and players witnessed physical signs of what Popovich has endured since the stroke. The meeting, however, was packed with motivational messages, jokes, critique and praise from the Hall of Fame coach, sources said. Not surprising considering the leader of men he is.
Popovich’s stroke happened at the Spurs home arena, Frost Bank Center, prior to their matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves on November 2. He was tended to by emergency personnel and the team initially said he would be out due to an unspecified illness. Assistant coach Johnson was named interim head coach and has served in that role ever since.
Nearly two weeks later, on November 13, the Spurs confirmed that Popovich had suffered a mild stroke. In a press release at the time, the Spurs said that Popovich had already started an intense rehabilitation program and was “expected to make a full recovery.”
Embed from Getty ImagesPopovich released a statement on December 16 thanking everyone for their support and expressing a desire to return to the bench at some point:
“This has certainly been an unexpected six weeks for my family and me. As we work together on my recovery, I want to take a moment to share that the outpouring of support we’ve received has been truly overwhelming in the best possible way. While I wish I could get back to each one of you, for now, let me say that my family and I are forever grateful. We’re thankful for our wonderful community, the entire Spurs organization, and our family and friends.
“No one is more excited to see me return to the bench than the talented individuals who have been leading my rehabilitation process. They’ve quickly learned that I’m less than coachable.”
Popovich, 76 years old, has been the Spurs’ coach since 1996 and serves as the team’s president of basketball operations. During his lengthy and successful tenure, he has led the Spurs to five NBA titles (1999, 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2014) and has been named NBA Coach of the Year a record-tying three times (2003, 2012 and 2014). He is the winningest coach in NBA history with 1,412 regular-season wins (Popovich had 1,390 wins before his absence and has also been officially credited with the 22 wins the team has picked up under Johnson) and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2023.
The Spurs recently had to shut down big man (7feet, 4 inches) Victor Wembanyama due to a deep vein thrombosis or a blood clot in his shoulder. The French sensation is expected to make a full recovery and return to the hardwood for the 2025-26 campaign.
“Pop isn’t just a coach or a boss,” the 21-year-old Wembanyama said earlier this month. “Pop is a leader.”
After a respectable start to the season, the Spurs have plummeted since the turn of the calendar and are now in 13th place in a stacked Western Conference at 24-33, nine games below .500, three games behind the Sacramento Kings for the final Play-In spot. Even with the acquisition of De’Aaron Fox after a big trade deadline deal, it seems likely the Spurs are destined for the draft lottery rather than the playoffs.
If the Spurs do indeed miss the playoffs, that would extend their playoff drought to a franchise-worst six seasons.
