After suffering a stroke in the fall, Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich is “attacking his rehab with the same resilience” that he has exhibited for decades on the team’s bench, team CEO R.C. Buford told reporters in Paris on Wednesday, according to The Athletic’s Joe Vardon.
While Buford isn’t ruling out the possibility that Popovich will resume his coaching duties for the Spurs later this season, he said it’s impossible to say for sure — or to project a recovery timeline for the longtime head coach, who will turn 76 next Tuesday.
“His improvement continues to get better, [but] I don’t know that we have any way to judge the clock,” Buford said. “Predicting what’s to come is just a function of where Pop’s rehab goes.”
Popovich initially stepped away from the Spurs in early November due to what was described at the time as a health issue. The club later put out a statement announcing that Popovich had suffered a mild stroke, and he subsequently issued a statement of his own in December that hinted he planned to return to the sidelines for the Spurs if and when his health allowed.
In the meantime, acting head coach Mitch Johnson continues to lead the club and has San Antonio within striking distance of a play-in spot at 19-22. According to Vardon, Johnson described his communication with Popovich as “consistent.”
“He is watching games, still as opinionated as he’s ever been, and competitive, and what you would think — giving praise and cussing me out, all at the same time,” Johnson said, per Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. “Pop’s health has been the priority since the start of this and until dot-dot-dot. That’s kind of how we, and I, take the approach. We want the best for Pop and I want the best for this team and however I can help is where I’ll put my energy.”
Chris Paul also said he remains in contact with Popovich, telling the media in Paris that the Spurs coach is in touch with players via phone.
“I’m not even sure if this is public, but he calls,” Paul said. “He calls after games and I talk to him, and he tells me what he sees, and I appreciate that more than anything because he doesn’t have to do that. And he does.”
As Vardon writes in a separate story for The Athletic, if Popovich were in France on the current road trip, he likely would have taken the Spurs out to a posh Paris restaurant for the sort of “wine-soaked” team dinner he’s known for. Instead, it was second-year star Victor Wembanyama who took the lead on that team dinner on Monday after the club arrived in his native country, per Vardon.
“We talked about it — Pop had a schedule here, and he would have done something like that too,” Wembanyama said. “Doing that on the first day was important for me to welcome [teammates] and to show them, because I know if I went to any of these guys’ country or city, I would have loved to find out about about where they come from to learn to know them better because they’re they’re all good human beings. So really, it’s a real chance to share these moments together.”
