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Legendary basketball coach Gregg Popovich announced Friday that he will step down as the head coach of San Antonio Spurs and will transfer full time to president of basketball operations.
The message followed Popovich’s absence in most of the season 2024 after what the team Previously called a mildly stroke.
San Antonio Spur’s main coach Gregg Popovich, Left and Guard Tony Parker, #9, talk during the exercise on Wednesday, June 12, 2013 in San Antonio ahead of Game 4 in the NBA final against Miami Heat. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
“While my love and passion for the game leftovers, I have decided that it is time to go away as a main coach,” Popovich said in a statement Friday afternoon. “I am eternally grateful to the wonderful players, coaches, staff and fans who let me serve them as a spurs head coach and am excited about the opportunity to continue to support the organization, the community and the city that are so meaningful to me.”
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Popovich’s tenure ends after a nearly three decade that saw him training the spurs for five NBA Championships. He remains the league’s all-time winner leader and has the most playoff winner with a team of any coach in the NBA story. His career, which also included being named NBA coach in the year three times and an Olympic gold medal, served him somewhere in the Hall of Fame in 2023.
American basketball players each put a gold medal on coach Gregg Popovich during the men’s basketball medal ceremony at Summer -Ol on Saturday, August 7, 2021 in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
“Coach Pop’s extraordinary impact on our family, San Antonio, Spurs and Basketball Camp is in -depth,” Spurs CEO Peter J. Holt said in a statement. “His accolades and awards do not do justice to the influence he has had on so many people. He really is one-on-one as a person, leader and trainer. Our family with fans from all over the world is grateful to his remarkable 29-year-old race as head coach of San Antonio Spurs.”
Spurs -Trainer Gregg Popovich has medical emergency while he recoveres after stroke: Report
Popovich missed all except five games the last season after suffering a stroke at the team’s arena on November 2nd. Assistant coach Mitch Johnson took over from then. The 76-year-old coach has not spoken publicly since the incident, but approached the team in February, saying he hopes he can “return to coaching in the future.”
San Antonio Spur’s main coach Gregg Popovich is watching during the second half of their NBA basketball match in regular season against Phoenix Suns in Mexico City on Saturday 14 December 2019. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)
Last month, however, Popovich reportedly suffered a medical event while ate at a restaurant.
Popovich will remain with Spurs as team president, a role he has had since 1994. In 1996 he fired Bob Hill and appointed himself coach – a title he also had in 29 seasons.
