San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich will miss multiple games after suffering a “health issue” on Saturday, ESPN and the Associated Press reported.
Popovich did not coach Saturday’s game when the Spurs faced the Minnesota Timberwolves after the legendary coach was ill and assistant coach Mitch Johnson filled in.
Johnson will fill in for Popovich as the interim coach.
“This has happened before. I think everybody’s just always got to be ready for the next man up.” Johnson said. “Sometimes people get sick or don’t feel well or things come up in life. He’s just not feeling well.”
The Spurs have not announced what the health issue is for Popovich but the 75-year-old coach missed back-to-back games in 2022 after falling ill during a road game and previously did not coach two games in the 2018 playoffs following the death of his wife, Erin.
Popovich is currently in his 29th season as the Spurs head coach. The longest-tenured head coach in the NBA, Popovich is also the league’s all-time wins leader with 1,391. He led the Spurs to championships in 1999, 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2014.
“Mitch did a great job, man,” San Antonio point guard Chris Paul said Saturday. “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, shout out to Mitch, he did a great job tonight.”
