Mitch Johnson's hiring leaves Spurs fans split after Popovich steps aside

Friday morning brought a massive announcement, as Shams Charania broke news that Gregg Popovich will no longer be the head coach of the San Antonio Spurs. Instead, he will be transitioning to a full-time role as Team President.

Shortly after this announcement came the news of Popovich's official replacement. The Spurs will be hiring interim coach Mitch Johnson as the team's next head coach. The former assistant will take over for San Antonio's Hall of Fame coach after spending the last nine years with the Spurs organization.

Johnson's coaching career began in 2015 when he started a position as an assistant coach with the University of Portland men's basketball team in Portland, Oregon. After that 2015-16 season, he joined the Spurs organization as an assistant with the Austin Spurs of the G League (D League at the time).

He remained an assistant with Austin until September of 2019, when he was officially brought on as an assistant under Gregg Popovich in San Antonio. In November 2020 following Tim Duncan's departure from the coaching staff, Johnson was promoted to a full-time assistant position.

Mitch Johnson is replacing Popovich as Spurs head coach

As most Spurs fans are aware, Johnson has been on the Spurs' sideline acting as the interim coach ever since November 2, 2024 in a game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. This was the day where Popovich was first unable to coach because of a health issue, which we later found out was unfortunately a stroke. Mitch served as interim head coach the rest of the season, with his long-term status up in the air until now.

Although the Spurs clearly knew Johnson was their man for the job given the quick nature of the hiring, the opinion regarding him is split among the fanbase. Johnson has of course been leading this team since November, but that's only six months of experience on the sideline.

Those in San Antonio who had grown accustomed to Popovich are used to seeing someone with a plethora of knowledge and experience as this team's leader. That's not to detract from what Mitch Johnson has achieved in his career, but no one would dispute the fact that he simply has not been around as long or had nearly as much time leading a coaching staff, especially one that's reached the highest of highs in the NBA.

On the other hand, some fans are excited to see someone who learned so closely under Popovich promoted to the position. There's no telling what kind of impact Johnson will have as this team's head coach going forward, but expectations are certainly high given the standard of excellence this organization has come to expect.