Gregg Popovich has played a key role in the NBA as the head coach of San Antonio Spurs. He has led his basketball team to victory in numerous matches and seasons in the NBA. However, supporters of San Antonio Spurs are panicking about the current state of Gregg Popovich as the mentor is yet to appear on the sideline in 2025.
San Antonio Spurs had elected Gregg Popovich in 1994 to be their president and general manager. By 1996, Gregg Popovich had taken over the team as the head coach and was crucial in achieving 5 NBA championships for the San Antonio Spurs. He has groomed international athletes like Victor Wembanyama, Blake Wesley, Zach Collins, and Harrison Barnes.
Young talent in the NBA looks up to Gregg Popovich for his expertise on the basketball court. The 75-year-old American coach has been noticeably absent in the last few matches of the 2024-2025 season of the NBA. His last appearance in the NBA for the San Antonio Spurs was against the Utah Jazz to secure a 106-88 win for his team. Shortly after the match, Gregg Popovich suffered a mild stroke, leading to speculations about his health and future in the NBA.
Gregg Popovich releases a public statement on his medical condition
Gregg Popovich made an official announcement about his medical condition on December 17, 2024. The public statement claimed that Gregg Popovich had been recovering for the past 6 weeks. He thanked his family, friends, co-workers in the San Antonio Spurs, and the basketball community for giving him time to recuperate from the mild stroke. His honest and humble words were posted on social media, generating more than 387,000 views on X.
The head coach of San Antonio Spurs faces an uncertain future due to his sudden departure from the NBA. He has been checked into a rehabilitation program and is on his way to a full recovery. In the meanwhile, Mitch Johnson was appointed as the interim head coach of the San Antonio Spurs. Mitch Johnson was the assistant coach of his basketball team for over 5 years in a row.
Victor Wembanyama drew a lot of attention from his audiences and the head coach of San Antonio Spurs during his match against Utah Jazz. The dribbling and shooting abilities of Wembanyama helped him score 25 points for San Antonio Spurs under the watchful eyes of Gregg Popovich. He also managed to get 9 rebounds, 7 assists, 5 steals, and 5 blocks during the basketball match.
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Chris Paul, the point guard of San Antonio Spurs, scored 19 points in the NBA game to claim victory over Utah Jazz. Popovich, who was present at the Delta Center stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah, coached the active roster of San Antonio Spurs in front of a crowd of 18,175 people at the edge of their seats. San Antonio Spurs maintained a 20-point lead in the 4th quarter of the match. Popovich has yet to reappear on the basketball court in the ongoing NBA season since their win against Utah Jazz in October 2024.
Gregg Popovich is among the highest-paid coaches in the NBA
The NBA is an American basketball league that pays talented athletes millions of dollars to perform for their teams each season. Coaches in the NBA can take home anywhere from $10 – $17 million per year to monitor the playstyles of basketball players and improve their tactics as a team. It comes as no surprise that Gregg Popovich is included in the top ten highest-paid coaches in the NBA. The San Antonio Spurs provides an annual salary of $17 million to Gregg Popovich for his vigilant guidance.
His yearly income places Gregg Popovich ahead of NBA coaches like Tyronn Lue and Michael Malone. Lue, the head coach of Los Angeles Clippers, is paid $15 million per year. Malone, the 53-year-old NBA coach from Queens, New York, receives $12 million as compensation for coaching the Denver Nuggets.
Gregg Popovich is currently the longest active coach in the history of the NBA. He has helped his NBA team, the San Antonio Spurs, lift the NBA championship trophy 5 times. Gregg Popovich was also named as the NBA Coach of the Year 3 times in his professional career. He was recently inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2023 for his contributions as a coach.
The US national basketball team hired Gregg Popovich to be their head coach for the 2020 Summer Olympics that was held in Tokyo, Japan. His training for players in the US national basketball team was pivotal towards securing the gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics. The US beat France with a score of 87-82 to win the grand finals that year.
The head coach contract is valid till 2028
The San Antonio Spurs extended the contract of the NBA head coach, Gregg Popovich, to be valid till the 2028 season. Gregg Popovich signed a 5-year agreement with his NBA team in 2023 to honor the commitment of his basketball organization. He has won a record 1,388 matches for the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA.
Hopefully, the medical conditions that restrict Gregg Popovich from coaching his team will subside in the coming months. He might be out for a few games this season but the head coach of the San Antonio Spurs could return stronger to take his basketball team to their 6th NBA championship title in 2025.
