SAN ANTONIO – Legendary Spurs coach Gregg Popovich made a powerful return to the public eye Monday, his first appearance since suffering a mild stroke last year, to officially pass the torch to Mitch Johnson—his hand-picked successor and the next head coach of the San Antonio Spurs.
It was more than just a press conference; it was a moment steeped in legacy, transition, and the quiet weight of one era giving way to the next.
At the Victory Capital Performance Center, under the soft glow of championship banners and the weight of legacy, Gregg Popovich emerged—not just as a coach, but as the enduring face of Spurs basketball. Flanked by legends past and present—Manu Ginobili, Tim Duncan, David Robinson, Victor Wembanyama, and the newly crowned NBA Rookie of the Year, Stephon Castle—Popovich stepped to the podium with the same mix of humility and gravitas that defined his nearly three-decade run.
“I can never express the gratitude I have for so many people caring about our organization and sending me thoughts and prayers since I had this stroke,” he said during the press conference. “Things are getting better by the day, but its not good enough for what we plan ahead. And so its time to make this change. I want to thank all of you in here – former players and coaches, friends, people from the ticket office to people who put on a show during timeouts – we all have a part in this. Its not just the players and the coaches. Everybody has been dedicated in doing their part to make us a successful and thriving organization.”
It was a moment as poignant as it was historic.
After suffering a mild stroke in November and a setback in April, Popovich—already the NBA’s all-time winningest coach and a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame—made it official: he was stepping down as head coach of the San Antonio Spurs. His final move from the sideline won’t be an exit, but a transition into a full-time role as President of Basketball Operations.
The timing, by Popovich’s own words, was about responsibility. “We have to have someone in charge who is fully capable of giving their very best because that’s what this group deserves,” he said. That someone is Mitch Johnson, a Pop disciple and longtime assistant, who has steadily risen through the ranks since joining the Spurs staff in 2016.
Johnson now takes the helm of a team at a crossroads—infused with young talent and anchored by Wembanyama, whose rookie campaign electrified the league. The appointment signals a passing of the torch, but not a departure from the Spurs’ ethos. Discipline, development, and culture remain cornerstones.
“We will continue to do our best and do this with class,” Popovich said. “That’s one of the reasons why Mitch Johnson will be taking over. We have total faith in him.”
In a moment that brought together eras of Spurs greatness, Popovich acknowledged a surprise guest: Dejounte Murray, who made the trip specifically for the occasion. “Mitch has known him since he was nine years old,” Pop said. “It’s a tribute to him that all the players that were in town were able to come.”
Another special moment came after the press conference when RC Buford, the Spurs CEO, told us that Duncan and Ginobili have been (at the practice facility) every single day assisting Popovich and coaching him through his rehabilitation process.
“That is Spurs family,” said News 4’s Don Harris. “For those two Hall of Famers to take the time every single day to be with the coach and the man they love.”
Popovich leaves behind more than five championships and a staggering 1,366 regular-season wins. He leaves a standard—etched not only in the rafters but in the DNA of a franchise he built from the ground up. Mitch Johnson now steps into that legacy, not to replace it, but to carry it forward.