Head coach Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs takes care of Houston’s Rockets in the first half of a pre-season match at Toyota Center on October 17, 2024 in Houston, Texas (Getty Images via AFP)
Gregg Popovich will not accept this season. He does not raise a return to the future.
Popovich met the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday, publishing a statement later to make its decision this season – and hope for next season -.
Popovich, 76 years old, the leader of Coaches of all time in the NBA, had a stroke at the team of the team in San Antonio on November 2 and has been far from the team since.
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“I decided not to go back to the key line this season,” Popovich said in a statement distributed by the team. “(Interim coach) Mitch Johnson and his staff have done a wonderful job and the resolution and professionalism that the players showed, sticking together for a difficult season, was exceptional.”
Popovich was in regular contact with Johnson, some team officials and sometimes spoke with some players during his absence – but he has not been seen in matches or was known to be training since the stroke occurred.
“I will continue to focus on my health in the hope of being able to return to training in the future,” said Popovich.
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Popovich’s visit to the team occurred a week after the Spurs announced that the center of the stars Victor Wembanyama – the defensive player of the favorite year at the time and someone who was a serious candidate to make the All -NBA team – will no longer play this season after the thrombosis of the deep vein, or a blood clot, was found in his right shoulder.
Spurs have not updated Popovich’s rehabilitation process for some time, except that it should recover completely. The team has not revealed what issues, if necessary, that Popovich has been dealing since the stroke.
Popovich accepted a five-year contract extension with the team in 2023, the one who would make him sign for the touch during the 2027-28 season. His only public comment before Thursday on his health and his future came in mid-December, when he said that he and his family were overwhelmed by “the effusion of support that we received during this period”.
Popovich mentioned the return to training in this statement, but has not revealed any calendar in a self-depreciating joke. “No one is no longer excited to see me return to the bench that talented people who led my rehabilitation process,” Popovich said in the December press release. “They quickly learned that I am far from being coachable.”
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