Spurs promote Mitch Johnson to head coach, taking over for Gregg Popovich
Mitch Johnson never expected to be coach of the San Antonio Spurs, not even on an interim basis.
It's his team going forward.
Johnson, the interim coach for the final 77 games the Spurs played this season, will be the new coach of the team after Friday's announcement by Gregg Popovich that he is stepping down and transitioning solely into being the team's president of basketball operations.
Popovich had the job since 1996.
'When I took the opportunity to join the Austin Spurs over nine years ago, I had no idea that opportunity was in front of me,' Johnson said at the end of the regular season. 'And so, it's sometimes funny how your journey takes you and sometimes the biggest moments can come from the least likely spots.'
Johnson got the job, initially, on virtually no notice. Popovich had a stroke in the team's San Antonio arena on Nov. 2, a few hours before the Spurs played the Minnesota Timberwolves that night. Johnson took over on an interim basis and kept the job for the remainder of the season.
He went 32-45 in those games, which goes on Popovich's record since he was still technically the head coach. When Johnson coaches on opening night next season, it'll be his 78th time in the role and his record — unless the NBA makes an exception — going into it will be 0-0.
Spurs star Victor Wembanyama said when the season ended that he had belief the organization would do the right thing.
'I trust the organization ... and I also trust Mitch to grow into that role,' Wembanyama said. 'So, I think we are in good hands.'
Johnson has been in the Spurs organization for nine seasons, the last five of those in San Antonio. He was San Antonio's coach in the NBA Summer League at Las Vegas in 2022 and 2023 — with Popovich watching just about every move, albeit from the stands.
His time with the Spurs started with their G League affiliate in Austin, Texas. Before that, he spent one season as an assistant at the University of Portland in 2016.
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
35 minutes ago
- USA Today
Ex-Panthers WR Diontae Johnson admits Browns were only team to contact him this offseason
Ex-Panthers WR Diontae Johnson admits Browns were only team to contact him this offseason A former Carolina Panthers wide receiver may be on his last chance in the NFL. Diontae Johnson, now a member of the Cleveland Browns, chatted with reporters from the site of his new team's mandatory minicamp on Wednesday. The 28-year-old and one-time Pro Bowler talked about trying to move on from a tumultuous 2024 season, one where he picked up four different stints with three different teams. "Everybody's gonna have their opinions," stated Johnson, who also admitted that the Browns were the only team to contact him this offseason. "At the end of the day, I'm the only one in that room that really know what be going on. They're entitled to their own opinion. I can only go off of what I know and try to go off of what I put out there, my best effort. Last year's last year, I'm trying to change that narrative and move the right way and keep going." Johnson's campaign began with the Panthers, who acquired him in a trade with the Pittsburgh Steelers at the start of the new league year. Then Johnson, despite leading the team in every major receiving stat through eight weeks, was shipped away to the Baltimore Ravens in a deal involving a late-round draft pick swap. The Panthers didn't disclose exactly why they cut ties with Johnson, but their reasoning may have become evident during his stay in Baltimore. After refusing to enter a Week 13 matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles, Johnson was suspended and eventually waived by the Ravens. He'd then wind up with the Houston Texans right ahead of their playoff run. Johnson's run there, however, was cut short—as the Texans parted ways with him after he made a scene in the locker room following the team's wild-card round win over the Los Angeles Chargers. His season essentially came to an end when he was claimed by the Ravens a day later. Baltimore, who had no intentions of actually playing Johnson for the remainder of their postseason appearance, picked him up in an effort to improve their compensatory draft pick formula . . . and maybe to stick it to the disgruntled pass catcher. So, after all of that, perhaps Johnson was lucky to have even one team show interest in him. Follow @ThePanthersWire on Twitter/X for more Panthers content.
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
The Pacers are showing who they really are — and that they're for real
INDIANAPOLIS — Their superstar has a crooked jump shot and disappears too often, stirring nonsensical chatter on the debate shows about whether he's even a superstar in the first place. 'I couldn't care less' was Tyrese Haliburton's response late Wednesday night, fresh off another sterling playoff performance that will quiet his critics for at least another 48 hours. Advertisement Their biggest spark stands 6-foot-1 but plays like he's 5-10. Speaking of jump shots, T.J. McConnell owns one that's even uglier. The 10-year veteran has probably lasted nine years longer in the league than anyone ever thought he would. He also happens to embody everything the Indiana Pacers are about. 'The great White hope,' Haliburton calls him. Their O.G. has been fighting a cold for days, couldn't buy a bucket for stretches Wednesday night and probably won't be able to practice with the team Thursday. No matter. Myles Turner made no mention of it. There wasn't a chance the longest-tenured Pacer was going to miss the first NBA Finals game the franchise has hosted in a quarter-century. This team can be both electrifying and exasperating, an endless fastbreak that's been known to fall asleep on defense a little too often (see: a 140-110 loss to the Spurs in January). They're stubborn about their style, refusing to slow the speed and find the perfect shot and protect possessions at all costs. The rotation isn't going to shrink — this team goes 10 deep whether it's a five-day road trip in February or the championship round in June. They're going to wear you down, with their pace and their depth and their grit. They're going to share the ball and stretch your defense. 'That's one of the things that attracted me to this place,' Pascal Siakam said. 'And since I got here, that's who we've been.' They're going to cripple your spirit, no matter the odds, whether it's a seven-point deficit to the Bucks with 35 seconds left in Round 1, a seven-point deficit to the Cavs with 44 seconds left in Round 2, a 14-point deficit to the Knicks with 2:41 left in the Eastern Conference finals or a 15-point deficit in the fourth quarter of Game 1 against the Thunder in the NBA Finals. This is who the Pacers are. Advertisement And this is where the Pacers are, 12 days into June: two wins from the franchise's first NBA championship. If their stunning Game 1 comeback last week spoke to this team's late-game guile — a recurring theme amid this magical playoff run — Wednesday's 116-107 victory in Game 3 revealed what the Pacers look like at their best. Dogged. Determined. And dominant when it matters most. 'This is how we gotta do it,' coach Rick Carlisle offered after his team jumped to a 2-1 lead in the series. 'We gotta do it as a team. And we gotta make it as hard as possible on them.' Carlisle's team is now 14-0 when they score 110 points or more in the postseason. They're 14-0 when the shoot 46 percent or better from the field. They're 14-0 when they make 40 field goals or more. They have a formula. It works. 'Hard things are hard' is a phrase Carlisle likes to lean on with his players. Over the last two years, he convinced his team this was how they had to play: full throttle, no brakes. It was difficult and demanding and maddening at times. But it's also changed the trajectory of a franchise that's on the doorstep of a title. 'Things that make sense aren't a hard sell for our guys,' the coach added. 'It's a difficult system, and it just requires a lot of sacrifice. But when you execute it the right way, whether it's two years ago in some game that doesn't seem very meaningful in mid-January or Game 3 of the finals, these guys see where important things are important. 'Our guys have made the investment. It's like a Greek marriage. It's a lot work.' That was the Pacers Wednesday night. They absorbed the Thunder's early punch, then kept swinging for three full quarters. OKC never had enough to respond and never found an answer. McConnell (10 points, five assists, five steals) was too much of a menace. Turner (five blocks) was too resilient. Haliburton (one rebound shy of a triple-double) was too damn good. Advertisement There was more, as there always is with this team. Siakam's 21 points. Obi Toppin's juice off the bench. (Indiana's reserves outscored Oklahoma City's 49-18.) Andrew Nembhard's stingy defense. Aaron Nesmith's big 3 late in the fourth. And Bennedict Mathurin — who spent last year's playoff run sidelined with a labrum injury, counting the days until he could return to the court— erupting for a game-high 27 off the bench. All night long, the Pacers met the moment. And for a city and state that's craved a championship run like this for years — decades, even — this team's arrived at the perfect time. Mathurin, the lone top-1o pick by the Pacers on this roster, said he's never heard the Fieldhouse as loud as it was Wednesday. The fans are hungry. The team keeps delivering. 'The state of Indiana is about basketball, and that was the first time I really felt it,' Mathurin said. 'As much as this is a dream right now, I'm not trying to (soak) in the present. I'm trying to make sure the dream ends well.' Reggie Miller sat courtside, next to another Indiana icon, Oscar Robertson. Edgerrin James was on hand. So was Caitlin Clark. And same as he did in the Knicks series, Pat McAfee revved the crowd into a frenzy late in the contest — his trademark profanity included. At that moment, it felt like the arena was about to explode. It wasn't just loud on Wednesday night; it was RCA Dome-loud. Hoosiers old enough to remember those days know what I'm talking about. 'They were everything we hoped for,' Carlisle said, a few days after challenging Pacers fans to be as boisterous as the Thunder fans had been in Oklahoma City. 'Especially in the fourth quarter. They just went up a few decibels.' This isn't your typical championship contender, led by an all-world talent picked at the top of the draft or lured to town via free agency. The small-market knocks have dogged the Pacers for years. This team was built the old-fashioned way, then made the climb from perennial also-ran into powerhouse. Indiana was 25th in the league in payroll last season. This year, they're 22nd. Advertisement More than anyone else on the roster, Haliburton hears it. The critics. The doubts. The nonbelievers. He's become somewhat of a lightning rod of late, praised one minute for his late-game heroics, then criticized the next when he has an off night. It comes with the territory. He's the face of the franchise, one that's worked its way into the spotlight. 'The commentary is what it is at this point,' he said late Wednesday, putting a bow on the nonsense before reminding the room what's really at stake. 'It doesn't matter,' he added. 'We're two wins from an NBA championship.' (Photo of Tyrese Haliburton and Reggie Miller:)
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
Spurs might be unable to land Greek Freak
Spurs might be unable to land Greek Freak originally appeared on Athlon Sports. The San Antonio Spurs have been linked to their fair share of offseason moves. With Dylan Harper their assumed draft pick, Naz Reid a potential free-agency signing, and Kevin Durant, Lauri Markkanen, and Giannis Antetokounmpo all trade candidates, the Spurs can bolster their roster in a big way this summer. Advertisement Of course, Antetokounmpo is the most talented player expected to be on the move this offseason. After the Milwaukee Bucks lost in the first round of the postseason for the third season in a row, the Greek Freak could demand a trade. Unless he specifically asks out, the Bucks are not expected to entertain trade offers. If he does ask for a trade, however, Milwaukee is expected to land a historically large haul of talent and draft capital, kickstarting a rebuild. The Spurs certainly have the means to land him, although it will be costly and arguably not worth it in the long run. A recent report from a league insider suggests that Antetokounmpo has not yet asked out, and the Bucks are not eager to field calls. Advertisement "Right now, there is no Giannis Antetokounmpo trade market," declared Brian Windhorst. "There is no Giannis Antetokounmpo trade discussions. He has not asked for it. The Bucks are not looking to trade him." Giannis has been linked to the Spurs, New York Knicks, Houston Rockets, and Toronto Raptors, although all of those teams might need to pivot to a different target, with Durant emerging as the best player. Check out the Inside the Spurs home page for more news, analysis, and must-read articles. Related: NBA Fans React to Latest Victor Wembanyama Update Related: Stephon Castle Must Improve One Thing to Stick With San Antonio Spurs This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 10, 2025, where it first appeared.
