Gregg Popovich away from Spurs indefinitely as he recovers from illness
San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich will be away from the team indefinitely as he recovers from an illness.
San Antonio announced that Popovich was not traveling with the team on their current road trip, which includes games with the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday and the Houston Rockets on Wednesday. The Spurs return home to host the Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday.
Mitch Johnson will serve as interim coach in Popovich’s absence. Johnson was told just hours before Saturday’s tipoff against the Minnesota Timberwolves that the 75-year-old Popovich was unavailable due to an undisclosed illness.
βHe’s not feeling well,β Johnson said. βThis has happened before. I think everyone just has to always be ready for the next guy. We’ve had it with injuries and sometimes people get sick, don’t feel well or things happen in life. He just doesn’t feel well.β
It was Johnson’s third time serving as head coach in Popovich’s absence. Former assistant coaches Tim Duncan and Becky Hammon also served as Spurs head coach for the past five seasons due to an illness or medical procedure for Popovich. San Antonio defeated Minnesota 113-103 on Saturday.
Popovich is the NBA career leader with 1,390 wins and another 170 postseason wins while winning five NBA titles. He is in his 29th season, all with San Antonio, during which time the team has won five NBA titles.