Best first-round NBA playoff matchups
The For The Hoops crew discuss the most exciting first-round NBA playoff series, including Lakers vs. Timberwolves and Rockets vs. Warriors.
San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich is recovering at home after multiple reports surfaced about him suffering a medical emergency earlier this week.
The San Antonio Express-News obtained an incident report stating that Popovich was eating at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse on Tuesday when the San Antonio Fire Department responded to a call of “an approximately 80-year-old patient” who fainted.
He was transported in an ambulance to a local hospital as a precaution with a non-life-threatening illness or injury. Popovich, who was enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2023, is back at home.
Popovich has the most coaching wins in NBA history, with 1,412 victories, and has earned five championships with the Spurs. San Antonio went 34-48 this season, missing the playoffs for the sixth straight season.
Gregg Popovich age
Popovich is 76 years old and was born January 28, 1949, in East Chicago, Indiana. He is the oldest coach in the NBA. He began his coaching career in 1973 as an assistant at the Air Force Academy. He had two stints at Pomona-Pitzer and spent a year at Kansas on Larry Brown’s staff, before following him as assistant to San Antonio when he was hired in 1989.
After spending three years with the Golden State Warriors, he was hired by the Spurs as the general manager and vice president of basketball operations in 1994 and became head coach in 1996 when the team fired Bob Hill after 18 games.
Gregg Popovich stroke
Popovich has missed most of the 2024-25 season after suffering a stroke in November and said he was taking an indefinite leave of absence, while assistant Mitch Johnson took over the team.
On Feb. 27, Popovich released a statement saying he would not coach again this season.
“I’ve decided not to return to the sidelines this season,” Popovich said. “Mitch Johnson and his staff have done a wonderful job and the resolve and professionalism the players have shown … has been outstanding. I will continue to focus on my health with the hope that I can return to coaching in the future.”
