SAN ANTONIO – In July 2023, Gregg Popovich reportedly inked a five-year contract extension to remain head coach of the San Antonio Spurs.
The deal would net Popovich, who was 74 at the time, $80 million throughout the life of the new contract. It also made Popovich, the NBA’s all-time winningest head coach, the highest-paid.
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In November 2024, 16 months after the contract extension report was made public, Popovich suffered a mild stroke before San Antonio hosted the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Frost Bank Center.
Popovich announced in February that he would not return to coaching in 2024-25 to “focus” on his health.
Three months later, during Fiesta 2025’s Battle of Flowers Parade, the news became official: Popovich was no longer the Spurs’ head coach. He is now the team’s president of basketball operations.
In a wide-ranging interview with KSAT 12’s RJ Marquez, Spurs governor Peter J. Holt reflected on Popovich’s nearly three-decade coaching career and what lies ahead with new head coach Mitch Johnson.
‘A very special individual’
San Antonio was snakebitten to tip off its 1996-97 season.
Center David Robinson suffered a back injury and later broke his foot. He played in only six games that season.
In December 1996, Popovich, then the franchise’s general manager, fired head coach Bob Hill after a 3-15 start to the season. Popovich’s pick to replace Hill? Himself.
“He’s been our family’s only coach,” Peter J. Holt told KSAT. “I mean, it’s crazy to say that.”
Without the Spurs’ world-class center, Popovich wasn’t an instant box office success. San Antonio lost 47 of its final 64 games in 1996-97.
However, San Antonio’s fortunes soon changed. The Spurs won the NBA Draft Lottery and later selected the grand prize with the No. 1 overall pick in 1997: Wake Forest big man Tim Duncan.
As a rookie, Duncan turned the Spurs into a 56-win team. During the lockout-shortened 1998-99 season, Duncan and Robinson led the team to the franchise’s first NBA title.
“The world of sports is very fickle, in general, and there’s this desire to have positive, successful, on-court results all the time. And that’s the only determination of success,” Holt said. “I think the way that our organization is rooted in the leaders is (that) that’s not our belief. We don’t believe that it’s binary. We believe that you can do the right thing and have positive impact and serve others in an amazing way and you can win.”
Popovich’s head coaching career concluded five games into the 2024-25 regular season with 1,390 career wins and three more NBA championships after the dynamic Duncan-Robinson duo claimed titles in 1999 and 2003.
The longtime coach has also been vocal on political issues, voicing his opposition to the Trump administration, calling on lawmakers to tackle gun violence and advocating for women.
In 2014, Popovich named former San Antonio Silver Stars point guard Becky Hammon to his coaching staff, making her the first woman to work on an NBA coaching staff.
“He’s just a very special individual,” Holt said. “I think that it’s rare that there are leaders that have (sic)tremendous ability to build relationships, to build culture, to lead by both voice and example. Also to be fallible. I think that he’s never expressed that, ‘I’m perfect, and you need to be perfect.’ I think that having someone like Coach Pop(ovich) around that simply believes in showing up each day with the right intentions and putting in the work and then you leave the rest up to the world. Having an environment like that, I think, allows for other great people to thrive.”
The new man in charge
For a coach with Popovich’s reputation, several of his assistant coaches were eventually hired as NBA head coaches themselves and attained their own individual success, such as Mike Budenholzer (won an NBA title with the Milwaukee Bucks), Mike Brown (two-time NBA Coach of the Year; coached the Cleveland Cavaliers into the NBA Finals) and Ime Udoka (coached the Boston Celtics into the NBA Finals).
Holt believes Mitch Johnson is the best man to replace Popovich. Johnson went 32-45 over the final 77 games of the 2024-25 regular season.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better pathway of transition,” Holt said. “Mitch (Johnson) is just a really special person that has (sic) incredible humility and a learner’s mindset, and also combined with this immense confidence and will. He is the right person for the right job at the right time. I’m thrilled for him, and I’m thrilled for the Spurs to have him be our next coach.”
Watch KSAT’s full interview with Peter J. Holt in the video player below.
More coverage of KSAT’s interview with Spurs governor Peter J. Holt: