75-year-old Spurs coach Gregg Popovich suffered a health issue before Saturday’s game against the Timberwolves and will be out for an indefinite period of time, ESPN is reporting.
San Antonio assistant coach Mitch Johnson is expected to be the interim head coach for the foreseeable future, including for Monday’s game against the Clippers and Wednesdays game against the Rockets in Houston.
ESPN says the storied head coach “experienced a health situation before the Spurs’ win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night. The team said Popovich had an undisclosed illness.”
He didn’t travel with the team for games in Los Angeles and Houston.
Johnson started off his temporary tenure in the right way, after a 113-110 win over the Wolves in San Antonio.
Chris Paul added 15 points and 13 assists and was very complimentary of his assistant.
“Mitch did a great job, man,” Spurs guard Chris Paul said after Saturday’s win. “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.”
Jeremy Sochan scored 19 points and 10 rebounds for San Antonio, and Victor Wembanyama had 17 points and six rebounds.
39-year-old Paul became the second-oldest player in NBA history with ten assists in consecutive games.
So things aren’t all bad in San Antonio. Let’s just pray for Pop.
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