San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich announced that he will not return to the sidelines this season, months after he suffered a mild stroke, but expressed his desire to eventually return to coaching.
‘I’ve decided not to return to the sidelines this season,’ Popovich said Thursday in a statement released through the team. ‘(Acting coach) Mitch Johnson and his staff have done a wonderful job and the resolve and professionalism the players have shown, sticking together during a challenging season, has been outstanding. I will continue to focus on my health with the hope that I can return to coaching in the future.’
Prior to issuing the statement, Popovich addressed the Spurs in person for the first time since he suffered the mild stroke Nov. 2. During the meeting, Popovich updated the team about his recovery and let them know that he would miss the remainder of the season.
This follows a report from ESPN Saturday, indicating that it was expected Popovich would not be returning to coach this season.
Popovich, 76, has missed all but five of San Antonio’s games this season. Assistant coach Mitch Johnson has been serving as the acting head coach in Popovich’s abscence.
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The Spurs were two games over .500 after upsetting the Denver Nuggets Jan. 3, but have since stumbled, going 6-17 since then. The team did acquire point guard De’Aaron Fox earlier this month in a trade with the Sacramento Kings, hoping that pairing him with second-year phenom Victor Wembanyama would elevate the team’s play.
Wembanyama, however, was diagnosed on Feb. 20 with deep vein thrombosis, or a type of blood clot, in his right shoulder, following the All-Star Game. The team announced that Wembanyama would miss the rest of the season, undoubtedly slowing San Antonio’s ambitions to contend under this rebuild.
The Spurs are currently in a four-game losing streak and are 24-33, in 13th place in the Western Conference.
Johnson’s performance with the Spurs is counting towards Popovich’s career coaching stats; that means Popovich — as of Thursday afternoon — has recorded 1,412 career victories in the NBA, most of all-time.
