Gregg Popovich NBA San Antonio Spurs Indefinite low

The Spurs manager is out with an ‘unspecified illness‘. For now, he will miss the two-game tour at the beginning of the third week.

One of the curiosities of Saturday’s day occurred in the Spurs’ victory over the Timberwolves by 113-103. Gregg Popovich did not coach the Texas team due to health problems. The franchise mentioned that it was an absence due to “unspecified disease”. Mitch Johnson, one of the younger assistants, took Pop’s place and led the team to victory.

Shams Charania, ESPN journalist, reported that Gregg Popovich will remain out indefinitely. The franchise has not yet specified what illness it is, but he did not travel to the team’s next tour. Thus, he will miss the away games against the Los Angeles Clippers (Monday – 12:30 a.m. Tuesday in Argentina) and the Houston Rockets (Wednesday – 10:00 p.m.). Then, the team will have a five-game home streak. Gregg Popovich entered his 29th season as the team’s head coach after taking over the team in 1996-97. At the same time, he had already worked another four years as an assistant (1988-1992) and two in between as an assistant in Warriors (1992-94).

Pop directed 2,215 regular season games and added 1,391 victories, the highest record in NBA history. He also had 170 wins in 284 Playoff games. He was champion of the competition five times (1999, 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2014), in addition to playing in six finals (defeat vs. Heat in 2023). The native of East Chicago, Indiana, entered the hall of fame in 2023. At the same time, he worked as general manager of the Spurs between 1994 and 2002, when he held both positions. Then, RC Bufford took over those jobs. The coach was present virtually at the Golden Generation event with his message via video broadcast at Parque Roca.

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