Spurs introduce Head Coach Mitch Johnson, Gregg Popovich passes the torch | Former NBA players react

Spurs introduce Head Coach Mitch Johnson, Gregg Popovich passes the torch | Former NBA players react

Welcome back to HQ, where of course we continue to follow the NBA playoffs, but there’s a changing of the guard and a switching of the roles here for a San Antonio Spurs legend. Gregg Popovich here retires from coaching the winningest coach in NBA history, 1422 victories and a five time NBA champion. Here, he’s flanked by a couple of other Spurs greats as they handed off to Mitch Johnson. But let’s hear from Gregg Popovich from San Antonio today. I guess you all know why you’re here. Well, Mr. Harris never knows what he’s doing. So everybody else knows what they’re doing. But Don, he’s lost all the time so he doesn’t know what he’s doing. Thank you for being here. It’s a quite a day for. Many of us, but there’s a lot of thank yous after 25 or 30 years. Miss Johnson, I. Manu, Timmy. I can never express the gratitude that I have for so many people caring about organization and sending me thoughts and prayers, that sort of thing. Since I had this stroke. Things are getting better by the day. But it’s not good enough for what we plan ahead. And so it’s time to make this change. I want to thank all of you in here. Former players, coaches, friends. People from the ticket office or people who put on a show during timeouts. We all have a part in this. It’s not just the players and the coaches. Everybody has been dedicated to do their part to make us successful, thriving organization. And that starts at the top with the Holt family. And we will continue to do our best to do this with class. It’s one of the reasons why Mitch Johnson will be taking over, because we have total faith in him to continue what’s been started a long time ago. I want to thank all my rehab people, some of whom are here. Javier, are you here? Where are you at? Oh, all of you are. Courtney. Melissa, you’re back there. There’s also Jessica and Rolando and Christian who couldn’t be here because they have a Here for my rock workouts. And Timmy and Manu, of course, who have been here for all of my workouts here at the Rock. They say it’s because they love me and they want to be there in case I fall and they’re going to catch me and that sort of thing. I call it payback as they give the rehab people new ideas of things to do to me. So you’re not fooling anybody. Especially you, Timmy. I want to thank the fans for being right next to us. With every win and every loss over these many years. We feel a close bond with you, and we know that we have a big responsibility to you here in San Antonio, and we will never forget that. But thank you for the years of your support and. We won’t let you down. We won’t win every game, but we’ll try to and we’ll do it with class, whether it’s a win or a loss. One of the reasons that I’m doing this now is that we have to have someone in charge who’s fully capable of giving their very best, because that’s what this group deserves and demands. And we have that man here in San Antonio. Nature’s been in the G League for a few years behind the bench, a few years on the bench a few years. And it took over this year. Did a fantastic job. A very certain with circumstances that were very difficult. And we saw him in action and he was brilliant. The players respect him. He’ll hold them accountable and I couldn’t be more thrilled for him and his family and friends. This is a tribute to him that. All the players were in town were able to come and especially a special guest, Dejounte Murray, who Mitch has known since he was nine years old, since he was nine years old. He came all this way just to be here for this day, and Matt and I both appreciate it very much. Obviously, people like David are. Part of the fabric of what’s been established here for the moment. He decided to stay in San Antonio and under the leadership of R.C. Buford and a host of assistant GMs and coaches, former players, we’ve been fortunate enough to keep it going. And that’s the goal to make sure we keep it going. We’ve got scouts and people in the film room. People who empty baskets, clean windows, and we’re grateful to all of them because everybody does a job. We’ve got some young players who are going to end up being really great players. Some in Austin and many right here in San Antonio. And Mitch Johnson will be the guy that. Forges their futures. And I’ll do everything I can to help him and help them. But I’ll have a new job, and I want to make sure everybody understands what the new job is. I’m no longer coach, I’m Al Heffner. There, Senor Popovich with Manu Ginobili and Tim Duncan. Popovich handed it over to Mitch Johnson, as you heard him say, third youngest active head coach in league history or in the league currently. And for San Antonio, of course, it’s an internal hire. He’s been with the staff for several years serving as an assistant under pop. Took over in an interim role this season when Greg was dealing with health issues and had to step away. Let’s hear from Mitch Johnson now. I am honored by this opportunity, and even more humbled by the people that I’ll be able to partner with and serve. And I’d just like to share a few acknowledgment and thank yous first to the whole family. Peter. John, Lauren. Kate, Corinna and JB. To R.C. Buford, Brian Wright, for all you guys do and continue to grow our program and push this place forward and think innovatively. To the staff this past year under such unique circumstances that supported me and made the job so much more. Enjoyable to be around when times were hard and not to overwhelming when things were tough. I thank you for that. It required all of us to step up out of our comfort zones and do a little bit more than was initially expected. When we started training camp. I would like to say a special thank you to Brett Brown. He is uncle, not by blood, but someone that I look up to very much and someone that I leaned upon. Thank you for the rest of the staff, the people in this building, the organization, people at the Frost Bank center. As alluded to earlier, all that you do to make this place one of a kind, and all the efforts that go behind the scenes late nights, early mornings when no one is watching. Thank you to our former players. Your continued presence make this place not an NBA team, but a program. And you’ve welcomed me with open arms almost ten years ago. Thank you for that. To the fan base, with the unwavering support and the commitment to want us to win so bad, we appreciate that even when the frustrations and the. Competitiveness kicks in, even in your world. To this amazing city of San Antonio and the relationship that it’s built with this organization for over 50 years. We moved here six years ago as a family. I’d like to thank my wife. Jessica. She had lived nowhere in the world other than Seattle for 34 years, and we moved here in San Antonio has become our home and now we don’t. Foresee us being able to live anywhere else. Thank you for. Conducting yourself with such grace and humility and being the backbone of our family with your unconditional love, our world could not go on without you. To my four kids, Tasia, Tatum, Johnny and Jameson. You four did not choose this lifestyle. The many sacrifices and things that you have to experience and go through do not go unnoticed. And your unconditional support. Is thanked. To the current players. You are the part of this opportunity that is the most exciting. You guys have put yourselves in a place to continue to grow, to do something special, and I cannot wait to continue to grow with you. Partner you. Partner with you. Excuse me. Challenge you. And try to get better every single day. And my only guarantee is that I will give you everything I have to do that. Pop. Where do I begin? You’ve taught me so many things. LED by example in so many ways. The players are always first. Attention to detail, maniacal competitiveness. Play harder and smarter for more of the 48 than your opponent. The best thing you’ve ever taught me and you showed me more than you’ve talked about it. You understand the moment. And how important every single moment is. In no moment is like any other. In the discipline that you have to be grounded in. Present and give yourself to every moment. Is what I will never forget. And in this moment, I just would like to say thank you. So the interim tag for Mitch Johnson’s removed. He is the full time head coach and Gregg Popovich moves on to an executive role with the team back here with Rip Hamilton, who took on Gregg Popovich and the Spurs in the five finals, and Avery Johnson, who won and played under Gregg Popovich. So, coach, I got to start with you. Thoughts and comments from today’s press conference. And there’s a sense of a theme here. And I have to have you explain it to us in the viewers here, the Spurs way. What is that? What are they referring to and what do you think of today’s press conference? Yeah, really can’t put into words in this short period of time. What we just witnessed, we witnessed a Hall of Famer who is now, you know, the full time president of basketball operations, coach Gregg Popovich, basically passed the keys to Miss Johnson. And pop is accomplished so much, so much on and off the court. He’s the guy that I think is the best coach in the history of NBA basketball. With all due respect to some of the other legends of the game. But when you talk about Spurs, way is discipline, is detail, is determination, is unselfishness hard work. But it’s also being very respectful not only of your teammates and coaches, but respect for the people and the community. Having strong character and giving back to the community. That’s that’s San Antonio Spurs, that’s the San Antonio Communities team. That fan base is obsessed with the San Antonio Spurs. They live on every minute of Spurs games. They show up to all the players appearances during the season in the off season. But I’m just really happy that the Spurs have found a coach in Miss Johnson, who’s been with the organization, who they really trust and feel comfortable to keep this Spurs way moving because people like me and all of us whose jerseys retired in San Antonio, it really means a lot to us that Spurs will continue to be a first class organization. I mentioned Mitch Johnson being an assistant with pop became a full time in 2020 when Tim Duncan, who we saw there, actually stepped down. So Miss Johnson was able to then get in on as a full time role. And we’ll get to Mitch in just a second. But what was it like going up against pop, and how much respect did he garner from other people around the league? Tommy Pop, in my opinion, like coach alluded to, greatest coach of all time. To be honest with you, I didn’t like him because of how great he was and how strong minded he was. But at the end of the day, I know I always had to respect him because the way that he was able to get his guys to buy in to his system, I mean, he got Hall of Fame players. As you looked at his press conference, he had Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili up there standing right by his side. And that tells you how much his players loved and cared and meant so much to them. And in a statement that I got out of it was that when you when you when you’re around Coach Popovich, it’s never about him. It’s always about his players. It’s always about his staff. He never points the finger at himself and says he’s the reason why they had so much success in San Antonio. I had a conversation with him at Summer League, and when he came up to me, he was like, hey Rick, you got to teach me how I can teach some of my guys how to come off a pin down. You did it so well when you played. I remember in 2005 when we had Bruce Brown chasing you. So a guy like that is always a student. It’s not a coach that always believes that he has all the answers. Very respected in the league. He’s going to be missed. I don’t think he’s going to be a guy that kind of just stays away from the game. But he’s one of the goats. He’s one of the best of all time, and I’m just happy that I was able to share the floor with one of the with one of our goats. I’m curious now to get your thoughts on what Mitch Johnson has with the task at hand. Victor Wembanyama, De’Aaron Fox, Stefan Castle and a lot of draft capital. So it’s still not only Mitch’s task, but still Pop’s task as he moves on to the executive role coach. So Avery, when you look at this team, what still needs to be done, what stands out to you and what do you think the next moves are in? The first challenges will be for Mitch. Well, I think the first thing is going to be, you know, what’s going to happen with Chris Paul to start, you know, is he going to come back and play another year or is he going to, you know, play another year somewhere else? And then if that happens then obviously you got your back court here with Fox and Stephon Castle. Castle who just was named rookie of the year. We all know Victor Wembanyama. He’s a freak of nature and unbelievable. And I believe if he stays healthy, a future Hall of Fame player and potentially NBA champion in the future. But I think they got to continue to add some veteran pieces, especially to the wing positions for the Spurs. And if they can continue to add that depth on the wings, similar to what Rick Detroit Pistons did, you know you bring in a Tim Hardaway Junior. You know to a guy that’s a veteran player that can knock down some shots, create some more space for guys like Cade Cunningham to operate. I think the Spurs need to follow that game plan. You know they brought in Tobias Harris Tim Hardaway. You know those guys can all spread the floor I think that’s that’s the method or the road to success for the Spurs. Yeah I’m very curious to see what type of system Mitch Johnson comes comes with having whole training camp. And you know when pop went out he understood that he was going to follow and do a lot of the things that Coach Pop already had in place. So I’m very curious to see what type of system that he puts in with this young group. Like coach alluded to. You got De’Aaron Fox here. That’s now get a whole training camp with Victor Wembanyama and Castle out there. So I think they got a great young nucleus. And now it’s time to ask the right right pieces around them. Probably add a physical big to play with Victor Wembanyama so he doesn’t have to bang as much. We all know that teams are going to really try to take a toll on him, try to bang him and push him further and further away from the basket. But I do think they got the right pieces to get back to where they was years ago, when they had the big three with with Manu and Tony and Tim. It’s just that now they just got to get reps. They just got to get out there and get the reps out there, but also add the right veterans that can help this young nucleus coach. Let me add can I add one more thing? I may be dreaming a little bit, but boy Giannis Antetokounmpo would look really nice in the Spurs uniform. That has been floated around their coach. That would be unfair to have to have go go gadget arms with Victor Wembanyama and Go Go Gadget Arms with Giannis Antetokounmpo. It wouldn’t be no space on the floor for anybody that they were playing against. Yeah good luck trying to score 80 against that crew. All right Avery Johnson RIP Hamilton gentlemen thank you for joining us here on HQ. As you take a look at the NBA coaching carousel. Again we just took you to San Antonio Mitch Johnson. The interim role has been removed Gregg Popovich moving on to a different role. And at 38 years old, becomes the thd youngest active coach in the leagu

Mitch Johnson speaks to the media for the first time as Head Coach of the San Antonio Spurs + Words from Gregg Popovich & Instant reactions from Avery Johnson and Rip Hamilton.

[00:00:00] – Intro
[00:00:27] – Gregg Popovich speaks alongside Manu Ginobili & Tim Duncan
[00:07:28] – Mitch Johnson Press Conference
[00:13:40] – Reactions from Rip Hamilton & former Spurs guard Avery Johnson

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