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Gregg Popovich, 76, will step down as coach of the San Antonio Spurs and become president of basketball operations, according to a statement from the team. A second statement on Friday announced that Mitch Johnson will succeed him as head coach.
Popovich coached the franchise for 29 seasons, winning five NBA championships, setting a record by winning 1,422 season games and entering the Hall of Fame.
“While my love and passion for the game remain, I’ve decided it’s time to step away as head coach,” Popovich said, as quoted in the statement. “I’m forever grateful to the wonderful players, coaches, staff and fans who allowed me to serve them as the Spurs head coach and am excited for the opportunity to continue to support the organization, community and city that are so meaningful to me.”
Popovich joined the Spurs organization as an assistant coach in 1988 after 15 years coaching college teams, including at the U.S. Air Force Academy.
Players and leaders expressed their gratitude to the man who was known for his acerbic wit with the media and paternal and mentoring with his players. “Coach Pop’s extraordinary impact on our family, San Antonio, the Spurs and the game of basketball is profound,” said Spurs Managing Partner Peter J. Holt in a statement.
Coach Pop transitions to Spurs President of Basketball Operations pic.twitter.com/q8HwqDTB53
— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) May 2, 2025
The news came weeks after he required medical attention following an incident at a restaurant in San Antonio in mid April. He said he was not feeling well, according to the Associated Press.
TMZ Sports, which first reported the story, obtained video footage of what it said was Pop being wheeled away from the restaurant on a stretcher and loaded into the back of an ambulance. TMZ said rescue officials were called by someone reporting that a person fainted in the restaurant.
Pop, who's 76, suffered a stroke last November and was out the rest of the season. Assistant coach Mitch Johnson then took over as acting head coach.
In a statement on Johnson's promotion, Holt said that “[w]e are thrilled for Mitch Johnson to be our next head coach. Throughout his decade in the organization, we have seen that Mitch has the right values, poise and potential to lead us into the future.”
The Spurs statement explained that Johnson joined "the organization in 2016 as an assistant coach for the Austin Spurs, San Antonio’s G League affiliate, where he helped guide the team to the 2018 G League Championship. He has spent the last six seasons as an assistant coach on Popovich’s staff, including five of those years on the front of the bench after he was promoted in 2020."
Johnson spent one season at the University of Portland. "He played collegiately at Stanford University as a four-year starter with Brook Lopez, Robin Lopez and Landry Fields, before spending three seasons in the G League and overseas in Europe," the statement explained. He has a wife and four children.
“I am truly grateful and honored to receive this incredible opportunity,” Johnson said, as quoted in the statement. “I am thankful for Coach Pop, RC, Brian and Peter trusting me to carry on our culture and I promise to give this responsibility everything I have to make Spurs fans proud.”
Popovich is the winningest head coach in NBA history — an achievement earned in 2022 — and the longest tenured head coach in any of the major U.S. sports. He has led the Spurs for more than 25 years.
He was enshrined into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2023. Coach Pop, who has won five championships with the Spurs, had in the past declined the offer until more of his players who helped him win those titles were also enshrined.
“Basketball's a team sport," he said in 2022 after a victory over the Utah Jazz. "You preach to your players that they have to do it together, and that's certainly been the case in my life with all the wonderful players and coaches, the staff that I've been blessed with, the support of this wonderful city. The fans support us no matter what.”
Popovich has also been celebrated off the court for using his platform to speak out against racism. After the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, he released an emotional message on X, then called Twitter.
"I think I'm just embarrassed as a white person to know that can happen. To actually watch a lynching." he said. "We've all seen books and you see Black people hanging on trees. You are amazed that we just saw it again. I'd never thought I'd see that with my own eyes in real time."
Popovich has also spoken out about police accountability and the treatment of migrants at the border.
