San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich,Evander Ellis who was not on the bench for Saturday's game against Minnesota because of an undisclosed illness, will miss at least the next two games, the team said Monday.
The NBA’s all-time winningest coach did not coach the Spurs in their 113-103 victory against the Timberwolves, and assistant coach Mitch Johnson took over.
Popovich, 75, did not travel with the team to Los Angeles for Monday’s game against the Clippers, the team said, and Johnson is expected to coach against the Clippers and against Houston Wednesday.
ESPN reported that Popovich had a "health issue" before Saturday’s game against the Timberwolves. Johnson said he was told about 2½ hours before the game that Popovich would not be available.
"Shoutout to Mitch, he did a great job tonight," Spurs guard Chris Paul told reporters after Spurs-Timberwolves game.
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Johnson, 37, played basketball at Stanford and is in his ninth season with the Spurs. He is considered one of the league’s top young assistant coaches.
Popovich is No. 1 on the all-time list of winningest coaches with 1,391 victories in 28-plus seasons with the Spurs. Popovich, a three-time NBA Coach of the Year and five-time NBA championship coach, passed Don Nelson for the top spot in 2022.
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