The San Antonio Spurs are one of the most successful franchises in NBA history, partially due to the greatness of long-time head coach Gregg Popovich. After taking over in 1996, Popovich led the Spurs to 22 consecutive playoff appearances, five NBA titles and an NBA record 1,422 wins as a head coach.
Popovich’s coaching career is older than many NBA fans, and it was announced on Friday that it has come to an end.
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Coach Pop transitions to Spurs President of Basketball Operations pic.twitter.com/q8HwqDTB53
— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) May 2, 2025
The team announced on social media that Popovich will officially step down from his role as head coach and become the team’s President of Basketball Operations.
In response to the huge announcement, the NBA world gave Pop his flowers as arguably the greatest coach of all time.
No head coach in the history of sports will come close to what Pop built here in SA. Thanks Pop for everything ????
— InstantRamen96 (@RamenSports96) May 2, 2025
Salute pop top 2 coach ever
— ᴅ ʀ ᴇ ᴡ (@FeelLikeDrew) May 2, 2025
RELATED: Legendary Spurs HC Gregg Popovich Retires After Nearly 30 Years
Legend to the game
— ???????????????? ???????????????????????? (@HeatvsHaters) May 2, 2025
The greatest to ever coach.
— A-Train (@ikbfr) May 2, 2025
Much respect to one of the greatest coaches ever. He will be missed as a coach, but it’s great his presence will still be in the spurs building. Congrats POP.
— Johnathan (@montanasociali3) May 2, 2025
The news prompted heartfelt farewells from NBA fans around the world.
In light of the announcement, the Spurs have named interim coach Mitch Johnson as the new head coach. Johnson was the acting head coach for 77 games during the 2024-25 season after Popovich stepped away for health reasons.
James Parker is an NBA writer for Ball Exclusives, follow him on X @TheJames_Parker
