San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich will miss an indefinite number of games after he suffered a “health issue” Saturday, ESPN and The Associated Press reported.
Assistant Mitch Johnson, who coached the team in its over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday, will fill in for Popovich in the interim.
The Spurs have not announced what the health issue is. ESPN’s Shams Charania reports he “experienced a health situation” before the Timberwolves game.
Johnson said after the game Saturday that Popovich was “not feeling well.”
“This has happened before. I think everybody’s just always got to be ready for the next man up,” he said. “Sometimes people get sick or don’t feel well or things come up in life. He’s just not feeling well.”
Popovich, 75, is in his 29th season as San Antonio’s head coach. The longest-tenured head coach in the NBA, Popovich is also the league’s all-time wins leader, at 1,391. He led the Spurs to championships in 1999, 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2014.
Johnson, 37, has been an assistant since 2019.
“Mitch did a great job, man,” San Antonio point guard Chris Paul said Saturday. “I think our whole coaching staff [did]. Things happen within this league all the time, and just like with the players, it’s next man. So shoutout to Mitch, he did a great job tonight.”
