LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — Longtime San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich is leaving the sideline.
Popovich and the Spurs announced said Friday that he will transition to president of basketball operations after leading the team for nearly three decades.
He had suffered a stroke in November and took an indefinite leave, with assistant Mitch Johnson serving as interim head coach.
It didn’t take long for San Antonio to find a successor. Shortly after the announcement, the Spurs said that Johnson has been hired for the job on a permanent basis.
Before Johnson’s hiring was announced though, ESPN analyst Jay Williams suggested Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon could be a candidate.
“Talk about a through-line, talk about championship experience with the Las Vegas Aces,” Williams said on ESPN’s “First Take.” “Talk about the first woman head coach in the NBA. The Spurs are the organization to make a move like that.”
“I love that,” Stephen A. Smith responded. “And she would deserve it.”
Hammon was an assistant coach under Popovich with the Spurs from 2014 to 2021.
She became the first acting head coach in NBA history in 2020 after Popovich was ejected from a game against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Hammon interviewed for the Portland Trail Blazers’ head coaching job in 2021 before the Las Vegas Aces hired her.
In three seasons with the Aces, she has an 87-29 record and two WNBA championships.