According to NBA Score Stats, The San Antonio Spurs updated Gregg Popovich’s health on Wednesday. They announced the veteran coach had a mild stroke on November 2, and still unclear when he will return.
For the past few years, there have been rumors about Popovich retiring. If his health does not improve, this might be a good time for him to step down. In that case, the Spurs will face the difficult task of finding a replacement for the man who has been their coach since 1996 and led them to five NBA championships.
San Antonio Spurs have five potential candidates to replace Gregg Popovich.
5 Candidates to Take Over Gregg Popovich as Head Coach
1) Manu Ginobili
People have been talking about Manu Ginobili as a probable heir to Gregg Popovich for a couple of seasons. He came back to the Spurs in 2021 as an adviser and has been closely working with players like Victor Wembanyama.
It’s unclear, though, whether he wants to be more than a mentor for Wemby or if he plans to take over from Popovich, but having a four-time champion and longtime Spurs member may help the team.
2) Monty Williams
Monty Williams’s last season coaching the Detroit Pistons was tough. The team finished with the worst record in the league, 14-68. He has ties to the Spurs, having worked as an intern on their coaching staff in 2005. Eleven years later, he became the team’s vice president of basketball operations. He is coaching his two sons, Elijah and Micah, at TMI Episcopal in San Antonio.
3) Brett Brown
Brett Brown has two distinct stints with the San Antonio Spurs. He was there for six years from 2007 to 2013 under Gregg Popovich. He went two years out of basketball before rejoining the team in 2022. Brown is a young prospect for the head coach position, and if Popovich is not returning from retirement this season, his name will be in the mix.
4) Jacque Vaughn
The closest though is Jacque Vaughn, an assistant coach from the Popovich coaching tree, also a former player for the Spurs. Vaughn was an assistant coach for two years at the head coaching position with the Brooklyn Nets from 2022 to 2024. He could not get the team to come together, so he is not the current head coach for Brooklyn. Because Vaughn is familiar with the Spurs organization, he is still a possibility to become Spurs Head Coach.
5) Mitch Johnson
Mitch Johnson Spur’s interim head coach, is doing his best to assert a case for a permanent position succeeding Gregg Popovich, despite having had a record of 2-3 since their takeover. Despite his dismal record, though, Johnson has shown he can take a lot, and thus he might have a future in the organization.
