Spurs name Mitch Johnson new head coach

According to Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press on Friday, the San Antonio Spurs have named Mitch Johnson of Seattle, Washington as their new head coach. However, the biggest news here is that Johnson is taking over from legendary head coach Gregg Popovich, who suffered a stroke in November after coaching San Antonio for 29 seasons.

Popovich is the NBA all-time leader in coaching wins with 1422. During that time from 1996 to 2024, he led the Spurs to five NBA Championships. He won the NBA Finals in 1999, 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2014. Popovich will stay on with the Spurs in a newly created role. He will be the team’s president of basketball operations.

The fact that the Spurs named their new head coach from within the organization should be zero surprise whatsoever. Popovich was always going to choose the new Spurs head coach. Johnson has been an assistant in San Antonio since 2019, was the interim head coach this past year while Popovich was ill, and was the assistant coach of the Austin Spurs in the G League for three years before that from 2016 to 2019.

It is interesting that Johnson never played in the NBA, just like Popovich did not. At the collegiate level, Johnson played four years at Stanford University for the Cardinal from 2005 to 2009, and then was an assistant coach at the University of Portland for one season from 2015 to 2016.

The Spurs are in a state of transition on the basketball court. That is no questionable doubt. The rebuilding process will take time. They do have two significant building blocks–the last two rookies of the year–Victor Wembenyama and Stephon Castle.