On Wednesday, it was revealed that the “serious” health issue that has sidelined Gregg Popovich from the San Antonio Spurs bench over the past two weeks was a “mild stroke”, eliciting much concern over the long-term health of the 75-year-old coaching legend. In fact, the Spurs players who witnessed the moment when Popovich experienced the mild stroke described the sight as “traumatic”, according to Shams Charania of ESPN.
Regardless, Popovich is imploring members of the Spurs organization, from the front office, led by general manager Brian Wright, to interim head coach Mitch Johnson, to not fret too much about his condition and that they should focus on giving it their all on the hardwood — casting their worry about the legendary head coach aside.
“One message that Gregg Popovich has delivered in recent days to Mitch Johnson, the interim head coach, and other executives within the Spurs organization is, ‘Don't worry about me. Focus on the task at hand here in San Antonio and that's to win and try to compete. And when I'm back, I'll be back. Don't worry about me,'” Charania reported on Wednesday's ESPN Countdown.
Of course, it's a bit of an unfair expectation from Popovich to tell members of the Spurs organization not to worry about him in the wake of such an event. Popovich is not getting any younger, and he also has a history of serious health issues, so it would be remiss of the Spurs organization not to expend much of their energy in worrying about his well-being.
Back in 2014, Popovich had to undergo a heart procedure that coaching peer Larry Brown said was close to sending the Spurs head coach into retirement. That was 10 years ago, and given how much of a high-stress job coaching in the NBA is, there are plenty of reasons to be worried about his long-term condition.
Nonetheless, it is good to hear from Popovich that he is looking forward to the day that he will be returning to the Spurs bench. But for now, it does look like the Spurs' players are pouring everything they can into winning basketball games — with Victor Wembanyama getting into an incredible groove over the past two games.
Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs are surely making Gregg Popovich proud
Gregg Popovich is surely pleased that the Spurs have been playing incredibly well amid his absence. His message towards his team was that they go out there and compete with everything they have, and so far, they have gone 4-3 amid his recovery from his health issue — with big wins against the Minnesota Timberwolves and Sacramento Kings during that span.
If everything went right for the Spurs, they conceivably could have been 6-1 during this stretch. In those other two losses, they blew a 26-point first-quarter lead against the Los Angeles Clippers and then they let the hapless Utah Jazz eke out a one-point victory. Both of those games were very much winnable.
Now, Victor Wembanyama has established a groove; he scored 50 to lead the Spurs over the Washington Wizards on Wednesday, and that game surely would have given Popovich a reason to smile.
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