By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Prayers up for Coach Pop.
In an official statement released by the San Antonio Spurs franchise on November 13, 2024, Gregg Popovich, their longest-tenured head coach and still the current chief tactician of the team, suffered a mild stroke on November 3, 2024, that kept him out from taking over mentoring responsibilities for the past month.
Last two weeks, San Antonio confirmed that Popovich will be out indefinitely due to an undisclosed illness that happened before their matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Spurs assistant coach Mitch Johnson then took over Popovich’s place, leading the rebuilding squad to an impressive 113-103 victory to protect their home floor.
According to ESPN’s senior NBA insider Shams Charania, there is a great level of concern regarding Popovich’s status after he needed medical attention.
San Antonio then aired the news publicly after two weeks but added that the living legend may come back next year fully recovered.
As of now, the Spurs medical staff will be turning their attention to Popovich’s rehabilitation and are hands-on in making sure that the decorated mentor gets all the things that he needs.
“Coach Pop has been the leader of this organization for the last three decades. We all have come across or know people that just have a different aura, a different presence about them,” said San Antonio general manager Brian Wright.
The amiable NBA executive followed his statement by reiterating that Popovich is currently doing well and will just need more time for his physical and emotional recovery.
As a tribute to their coach, San Antonio has been doing well under the guidance of coach Johnson, raking back-to-back wins against the Sacramento Kings and the Washington Wizards.
Victor Wembanyama was a man on a mission during that two-game schedule and earned his NBA career-high when he dropped 50 points on the Wizards, resulting in a 139-130 victory.
Aside from his 50-point eruption, Wembanyama also stuffed the stat sheets just like he always does and tallied six rebounds, three blocks, two assists, and a steal.
San Antonio will be bracing for a tough five-game stretch as they are set to meet with the Lakers, Dallas, Oklahoma, Utah, and the Warriors until November 24, 2024.
