The San Antonio Spurs already have their next head coach.
Mitch Johnson, who served as San Antonio’s interim head coach for the majority of this season while Gregg Popovich recovered from a stroke sustained in November, was promoted to the full-time role, the Spurs announced Friday afternoon.
USA TODAY Sports reported the news earlier.
Terms of Johnson’s deal were not disclosed.
“I am truly grateful and honored to receive this incredible opportunity,” Johnson said Friday in a news release before thanking Popovich, Spurs chief executive officer R.C. Buford and team ownership. “I promise to give this responsibility everything I have to make Spurs fans proud.”
Johnson, 38, has served under Popovich since 2019, when he joined the Spurs staff as an assistant. Johnson had been considered one of the NBA’s top young assistant coaches before taking over the Spurs on an interim basis this season. The Spurs started the season with promise, but injuries to star phenom Victor Wembanyama and newly-acquired point guard De’Aaron Fox derailed San Antonio’s campaign.
In 77 games as the Spurs interim, Johnson was 32-45.
Johnson’s expeditious promotion also signals a desire to maintain relative continuity within the franchise during this transition, as Popovich and Buford have invested in Johnson’s continued development within the organization.
“We are thrilled for Mitch Johnson to be our next head coach,” Spurs managing partner Peter J. Holt said in a statement. “Throughout his decade in the organization we have seen that Mitch has the right values, poise and potential to lead us into the future.”
Johnson takes over a team that has a solid blend of youth and athleticism with some veteran presence. Wembanyama and Fox are the centerpieces of the team, though guard Stephon Castle, the No. 4 overall selection in the 2024 NBA draft, recently won the NBA Rookie of the Year award. That gave the Spurs consecutive winners of the award (Wembanyama won last year), marking only the second time it has happened over the past 50 years.
The move to promote Johnson comes after the Spurs announced that Popovich was stepping down as head coach and transitioning into the role of president of basketball operations. Popovich had spent most of the 2024-25 regular season away from the team, though he did address the team Feb. 27, informing players that he would not be returning to the sidelines for the remainder of the season.
On April 15, Popovich reportedly suffered a medical incident at a restaurant and was taken to a hospital. He was later discharged and returned home.
The 2024-25 regular season marked the third time Johnson stepped in as San Antonio’s interim coach. The first came in May 2021, when Popovich attended the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame induction of former Spurs great Tim Duncan; Johnson and San Antonio lost that game, 140-103 to the Suns.
The second time was in March 2023 when Popovich missed one game with a non-COVID-19 illness; Johnson earned his first career coaching victory then, 110-99, over the Pacers. Popovich returned the following game.
Previously, Johnson had coached with the organization’s G League affiliate, the Austin Spurs; from 2016 through 2019, he was an assistant under coaches Ken McDonald and Blake Ahearn.
Johnson played four seasons of Division I basketball at Stanford from 2005 through 2009, averaging 5.3 points, 4.1 assists and 3.0 rebounds per game. Johnson helped lead the Cardinal to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances, including a run to the Sweet 16 in 2008. After his college playing career, Johnson had a brief stint in the G League with the Tulsa 66ers.
He is the son of NBA veteran John Johnson and he and wife Jessica have four children – Tasia, Tatum, Johnnie and Jameson.
(This story will be updated.)
