On Friday afternoon, the NBA saw the end of an era. The San Antonio Spurs announced that longtime head coach Gregg Popovich will retire from the sidelines. He’ll transition to a front-office role as Mitch Johnson was promoted from the interim to the new head coach.
It’ll be the first time the Spurs will have a new head coach since Popovich took the job in 1996. The Basketball Hall-of-Famer was sidelined for most of this past season after he suffered a mild stroke in November 2024. It’s the end of an era at San Antonio.
While the news didn’t blindside anybody, the 76-year-old stepping away marks a historic day in NBA history. The five-time NBA champion is regarded as one of the best coaches in league history. He helped shepherd the Spurs’ dynasty, headlined by Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili.
Considering the strong ties between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Spurs — OKC GM Sam Presti was in San Antonio — Mark Daigneault spoke highly of Popovich’s retirement and his basketball legacy.
“I just think there’s certain people at different points in time that change the game and change the league. From a coaching standpoint, he’s certainly one of them,” Daigneault said. “Stylistically, the way they embraced international basketball happened at a time when the international influence on the NBA exploded. They were kinda the forefront of that and had success doing that.”
The Spurs were regarded as one of the best drafting front offices at their peak. Popovich helped uncover gems like Parker and Ginobili with low-stakes draft capital. Daigneault also talked about his humane side. He said that he was at the forefront of humanizing NBA coaches with the average fan.
“Just the humanity that he coached with, I think was a real tone setter. Whereas coaching sometimes is seen as this like, you sleep in your office, you drink your coffee, you hold the players accountable, you do your job,” Daigneault said. “I mean, he kinda transcends that with the types of relationships that he builds with the players.”
Daigneault also noted how influential Popovich’s Spurs were. From front office gigs to coaching staffs, several other NBA franchises have tried to copy what San Antonio did to sustain such a lengthy championship window through most of the 2000s and 2010s.
“The last thing I would say is just looking around the league now, almost every organization has a Spurs influence. No more than us. But the way that program and organization kinda spawned off into,” Daigneault said. “They’ve literally changed the league. He’s changed the league.”
Lastly, Daigneault talked about his personal interactions with Popovich. Both coaches intersected only a handful of times, but the Thunder coach remembered how kindly he was treated by such a basketball titan when he was first promoted in 2020 as a relative unknown.
“On a personal note, although I don’t know him well, it’s always interesting when you’re one of the younger coaches in the league coaching a rebuilding team, to see how people treat you,” Daigneault said. “The grace and dignity and respect that he showed somebody in that position that he didn’t need to really. He’s kinda above that if he wanted to be. I always just really appreciated that about him, just personally as well.”
Mark Daigneault on Gregg Popovich’s retirement: pic.twitter.com/QwPrqjPK0c
— Clemente Almanza (@CAlmanza1007) May 2, 2025
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Mark Daigneault reacts to Gregg Popovich’s retirement as Spurs coach
On Friday afternoon, the NBA saw the end of an era. The San Antonio Spurs announced that longtime head coach Gregg Popovich will retire from the sidelines. He’ll transition to a front-office role as Mitch Johnson was promoted from the interim to the new head coach.
It’ll be the first time the Spurs will have a new head coach since Popovich took the job in 1996. The Basketball Hall-of-Famer was sidelined for most of this past season after he suffered a mild stroke in November 2024. It’s the end of an era at San Antonio.
While the news didn’t blindside anybody, the 76-year-old stepping away marks a historic day in NBA history. The five-time NBA champion is regarded as one of the best coaches in league history. He helped shepherd the Spurs’ dynasty, headlined by Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili.
Considering the strong ties between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Spurs — OKC GM Sam Presti was in San Antonio — Mark Daigneault spoke highly of Popovich’s retirement and his basketball legacy.
“I just think there’s certain people at different points in time that change the game and change the league. From a coaching standpoint, he’s certainly one of them,” Daigneault said. “Stylistically, the way they embraced international basketball happened at a time when the international influence on the NBA exploded. They were kinda the forefront of that and had success doing that.”
The Spurs were regarded as one of the best drafting front offices at their peak. Popovich helped uncover gems like Parker and Ginobili with low-stakes draft capital. Daigneault also talked about his humane side. He said that he was at the forefront of humanizing NBA coaches with the average fan.
“Just the humanity that he coached with, I think was a real tone setter. Whereas coaching sometimes is seen as this like, you sleep in your office, you drink your coffee, you hold the players accountable, you do your job,” Daigneault said. “I mean, he kinda transcends that with the types of relationships that he builds with the players.”
Daigneault also noted how influential Popovich’s Spurs were. From front office gigs to coaching staffs, several other NBA franchises have tried to copy what San Antonio did to sustain such a lengthy championship window through most of the 2000s and 2010s.
“The last thing I would say is just looking around the league now, almost every organization has a Spurs influence. No more than us. But the way that program and organization kinda spawned off into,” Daigneault said. “They’ve literally changed the league. He’s changed the league.”
Lastly, Daigneault talked about his personal interactions with Popovich. Both coaches intersected only a handful of times, but the Thunder coach remembered how kindly he was treated by such a basketball titan when he was first promoted in 2020 as a relative unknown.
“On a personal note, although I don’t know him well, it’s always interesting when you’re one of the younger coaches in the league coaching a rebuilding team, to see how people treat you,” Daigneault said. “The grace and dignity and respect that he showed somebody in that position that he didn’t need to really. He’s kinda above that if he wanted to be. I always just really appreciated that about him, just personally as well.”
Mark Daigneault on Gregg Popovich’s retirement: pic.twitter.com/QwPrqjPK0c
— Clemente Almanza (@CAlmanza1007) May 2, 2025
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Mark Daigneault reacts to Gregg Popovich’s retirement as Spurs coach
