FILE–Head coach Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs looks on against the Houston Rockets during the first half of an NBA preseason game at Toyota Center on October 17, 2024. Alex Slitz/Getty Images/AFP
SAN ANTONIO– Basketball Hall of Famer Gregg Popovich is recovering from what the San Antonio Spurs described as a mild stroke, though there is no timetable for the NBA’s longest-tenured coach to return to the sideline.
Popovich had the stroke on Nov. 2 at the arena where the Spurs play, the team said Wednesday, and has already started a rehabilitation program with belief that he will make a full recovery. The team released no other details, including what aftereffects of the stroke — if any — that he is dealing with.
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“It’s a difficult time for everyone,” Spurs general manager Brian Wright said. “Coach Pop has been the leader of this organization for the last three decades. We all have come across or know people that just have a different aura, a difference presence about them. Clearly, he’s one of those people. When we walk into the building each and every day, we feel that leadership, we feel that presence and so not having him there’s clearly a void. And we miss him.”
READ: NBA: Spurs unsure when Gregg Popovich will return
The 75-year-old Popovich is the NBA’s all-time win leader who has led the Spurs to five championships, plus guided USA Basketball to a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. He is in his 29th season as coach of the Spurs.
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“He’s doing well. He’s doing well. … He’s tough, he’s a fighter and he’s going to work,” Wright said. “We’re all here for him, but he’s doing OK.”
Assistant coach Mitch Johnson has been the acting head coach in Popovich’s absence. The Spurs beat Washington 139-130 on Wednesday night, the the seventh straight game in which Johnson has filled in for Popovich.
“Mitch has been great,” Spurs rookie Stephon Castle said Wednesday, before the team announced the details about Popovich’s health. “Even when Pop was here, he’s always had a voice in our huddles and in our locker room. Our philosophies haven’t been changed.”
READ: NBA: Gregg Popovich out indefinitely with undisclosed illness
Victor Wembanyama, who scored a career-high 50 points in the win over the Wizards, said the team first learned about Popovich’s stroke before the team’s announcement.
“Of course I’m a bit worried about Pop,” Wembanyama said. “At the same time, I haven’t talked to him, but I know what mindset he’s on right on. I know he’s working like crazy, probably to come back with us as soon as possible. I trust him. I trust the people taking care of him right now. I hope he’s not going to be away from us for too long.”
San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, left, talks with Victor Wembanyama on the bench during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Houston Rockets Tuesday, March 5, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
A stroke happens when blood flow to part of the brain is blocked or if a blood vessel in the brain bursts. That deprives the brain of oxygen which can cause brain damage that can lead to difficulty thinking, talking and walking, or even death. Strokes may lead to difficulty speaking, paralysis or loss of movement in certain muscles, memory loss and more.
It is unknown if Popovich is dealing with any aftereffects of the stroke.
READ: NBA: Gregg Popovich signs 5-year contract to remain Spurs coach
Stroke was the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S. in 2023, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and more than half a million Americans have a stroke every year.
The Spurs were playing the Minnesota Timberwolves at home on Nov. 2, and Popovich’s medical episode occurred there in the hours before that game. Johnson took over for that night’s contest, which the Spurs won, after the team said Popovich was not feeling well.
Johnson and Popovich spoke on Nov. 3, and on Nov. 4 Johnson said Popovich is “in good spirits … he’ll be OK. He is OK.” The Spurs had not released much in the way of details since, prior to Wednesday’s announcement about the stroke.
Wright raved about the way Johnson and the Spurs have bonded and dealt with the absence of the team’s leader.
“It’s exactly what Coach Pop would want us to do,” Wright said. “And so, it’s on all of us to play our part, to play our role, to continue to lean on each other, support one another and be there for one another.”
Popovich is one of only three coaches to win the NBA coach of the year award three times, Don Nelson and Pat Riley being the others. He’s one of five coaches with at least five NBA titles; Phil Jackson (11), Red Auerbach (9), John Kundla (5) and Riley (5) are the others.
Popovich has been part of the Spurs for nearly 35 years. He was an assistant coach from 1988 through 1992, then returned to the club on May 31, 1994, as its executive vice president for basketball operations and general manager. He made the decision to fire coach Bob Hill and appoint himself coach on Dec. 10, 1996.
He’s been the Spurs’ sideline boss ever since.
“We look forward to the day that we can welcome him back,” Wright said.
Popovich’s 29-year run with the Spurs is a span the likes of which has been nearly unmatched in U.S. major pro sports history.
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Connie Mack managed the Philadelphia Athletics for 50 years, George Halas coached the Chicago Bears for 40 years and John McGraw managed the New York Giants for 31 years. Those three tenures — all wrapping up well over a half-century ago — are the only ones exceeding Popovich’s run with the Spurs; his 29-year era in San Antonio to this point matches the tenures that Dallas Cowboys’ Tom Landry and the Green Bay Packers’ Curly Lambeau had in those jobs.