San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich, the oldest coach in the NBA, suffered a mild stroke on Nov. 2 and is recovering from that, although there is no timeline on his return. The Spurs announced the diagnosis on Wednesday.
— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) November 13, 2024
The Spurs organization had closed ranks around Popovich since he went out on Nov. 2 with what the team called at the time a “health issue,” although the way they reacted suggested this was not a simple cold or flu that might cost him a handful of games.
Popovich is an NBA coaching legend — a five-time NBA champion, coached Team USA to an Olympic gold medal in Tokyo, and has won more regular season games than any coach in the history of the NBA. His coaching tree — Mike Budenholzer, Ime Idoka, Steve Kerr, Mike Brown and many more — is the foundation of franchises around the league.
Memphis Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins is one of the guys from that coaching tree. He got his start with the Spurs (including being the head coach of their G-League team), then worked with Popovich protege Mike Budenholzer.
“I mean, he’s absolutely been on my heart and my mind a lot...” Jenkins said before his team took on the Lakers Wednesday night, adding that he has reached out to Pop. “He’s recovering, he’s where he needs to be, at home, and he’s feeling the love and support. He’s unbelievable. He’s one of the biggest mentors in my life, and gave me an opportunity to learn from him and the great coaches and players around him, but you got to put basketball aside. I mean, the human being, unbelievable, the biggest heart, the most caring guy I’ve ever been around. So during this difficult time, I hope he’s being showered with all the love that he deserves because the unbelievable person he is.”
A stroke is when blood flow to the brain is blocked and cut off (or, more rarely, a blood vessel inside the brain bursts), and there are widely varied levels of severity and long-term impact based on where the clot happens and how fast the patient gets treatment. The Spurs called it a “mild” stroke, which is the actual medical classification for a level of stroke, one with symptoms many people associate with the condition: weakness and numbness on one side of the face (or body, such as the arm), which leads to a sagging effect, it is coupled with difficulty speaking or understanding what is being communicated to them. However, as the name “mild” suggests, the impacts are not as severe as they could be.
If, as it appears happened in this case, Popovich got rapid medical treatment — the stroke happened while he was at the Frost Bank Arena, according to the Spurs — and was given a “tissue plasminogen activator” drug, it would help limit the long-term impacts of the stoke by breaking up the blood clots (it is why immediate treatment is critical for strokes, there is a time limit on how long before those drugs are no longer effective).
The Spurs are still leaving open a Popovich return this season, although whether he wants to return to coaching long term or step away is something R.C. Buford and San Antonio’s management has always said will be up to Popovich to decide. Pop gets to make the call. This health scare will have Pop reflecting on what he wants in his future.
