While in France for the San Antonio Spurs pair of games against the Indiana Pacers, the franchise's CEO R.C. Buford shared an update on the status of Gregg Popovich. The Hall of Fame coach suffered a mild stroke in early November and has been away from the organization officially since then. Assistant coach Mitch Johnson has served as the team's head coach in Pop's absence.

Since then, indications have pointed to Popovich's return as the longest-tenured coach in the NBA recovers. French journalist Maxime Aubin reports that Buford confirmed those assumptions while speaking in Paris.

“He’s been improving weekly (since his stroke). We don’t know when he will be back, but he will be at some point.”

The timeline as Gregg Popovich works his way back

The 75-year-old Popovich hasn't been with Spurs since November 2. On that day, the team hosted the Minnesota Timberwolves but they did so without their head coach who left the arena prior to what marked their sixth game of the season.

Two days later as reports surfaced about a potential health concern for Popovich, the Spurs put out a statement that he would not travel with the team on the ensuing road trip to face the Los Angeles Clippers and Houston Rockets.

On November 13, the franchise announced that Popovich had suffered a mild stroke. The press release acknowledged that it occurred on November 2 and that the 29th-year head coach was expected to make a full recovery. A timeline for his return was not given, but shared that Popovich had started a rehabilitation program.

Popovich made his first public statement more than a month later. After thanking the community, Spurs organization, and fans, the note reiterated that the winningest coach in NBA history would return.

“No one is more excited to see me return to the bench than the talented individuals who have been leading my rehabilitation process. They've quickly learned that I'm less than coachable,” Pop said via the statement.

Since then, Mitch Johnson and several players have said that Popovich reaches out to them consistently.

Spurs trip to Paris a Popovich reminder of sorts

San Antonio Spurs chief executive officer RC Buford looks on in the first half of the men’s basketball quarterfinal game between the United States and Brazil during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games at Accor Arena.
Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

Gregg Popovich served five years of required active duty in the United States Air Force, during which he toured Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union with the U.S. Armed Forces Basketball Team. After electing to go the coaching route professionally, his first taste of the NBA came in 1988 when he joined Larry Brown's Spurs staff as an assistant.

A year later, the Air Force Academy grad proved crucial in the team's acquisition of a good prospect from Montenegro named Zarko Paspaj. It would foreshadow a huge portion of Popovich's legacy.

From Tony Parker to Manu Ginobili, to now Victor Wembanyama, under Pop the Spurs have helped forge the way for an international impact on the NBA.

At the same time, Popovich is long known for passions that transcend basketball, including an appreciation for worldly matters. His love for wine is famously one of his personal hallmarks.

Call it irony, then — maybe fitting that the update from Buford comes in a French setting that Popovich helped to create.