By Tom Orsborn, Staff writer | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2025-02-23 15:54:23
由生成式人工智能翻译，译文内容可能不准确或不完整，以原文为准。
新奥尔良——在周日晚上对阵鹈鹕的比赛后，马刺的赛季还剩下27场比赛，看来格雷格·波波维奇(Gregg Popovich)不太可能回归执教球队，因为他在近四个月前遭受了俱乐部称之为轻微中风的疾病。
虽然球员们想念这位名人堂成员，但他们相信在米奇·约翰逊(Mitch Johnson)担任代理教练的情况下，他们处境良好，并准备在这位38岁的助理教练的指挥下完成本赛季。
“米奇，”前锋哈里森·巴恩斯(Harrison Barnes)周日说，“做得非常出色。”
在波波维奇于11月2日对阵森林狼的比赛前几个小时生病后，约翰逊肩负起了踏入传奇人物鞋子的艰巨任务。但在周五在奥斯汀输给底特律的比赛中，马刺队在周日比赛前以24胜30负的战绩进入比赛，在约翰逊掌舵期间取得了22胜27负的不错战绩，此前管理层选择了他来执掌球队，尽管替补席上有一位经验丰富的前NBA教练，即64岁的助理教练布雷特·布朗(Brett Brown)。
巴恩斯说，这位前斯坦福大学控球后卫最令人印象深刻的事情之一是他没有试图模仿76岁的波波维奇的风格。
“米奇做得非常出色，他只是做他自己……并且只是努力让我们达到马刺的比赛标准，”巴恩斯说。
约翰逊说他已准备好完成他开始的工作。
“自从这件事发生以来，我们就一直在谈论波波的健康是第一位的，当他不在的时候我会执教，”约翰逊说。“我没有要求任何超出我所得到的支持，这太棒了。所以，在这一点上，一切保持不变。”
约翰逊的几位同行注意到了他的工作以及他在面对许多逆境时如何保持冷静。
除了克服不得不临阵顶替波波维奇的震惊之外，约翰逊还带领马刺队度过了几个困难的局面，包括伤病，假期旺季期间在纽约的两场比赛，当他们在洛杉矶待了五天时因野火肆虐而出现的一系列后勤问题，为期一周的巴黎之旅（进行了两场比赛），以及将新近获得的球星后卫达龙·福克斯(De’Aaron Fox)融入球队阵容的挑战。
最重要的是，约翰逊现在肩负着团结球队的重任，因为全明星中锋维克托·文班亚马(Victor Wembanyama)上周三因右肩血栓而赛季报销，约翰逊称这一事态发展是“毁灭性的”。
“他做得非常出色，”活塞队教练J.B. 比克斯塔夫(J.B. Bickerstaff)说。“首先，这份工作并不容易。其次，在没有训练营的情况下，在赛季已经开始的时候被投入其中，而且没有期望这份工作将是你的，也没有时间为此做准备，承担这些责任极其困难。
“但你可以从他们的比赛方式中看出，他已经让他们相信了他。你看看他们打球多么无私，他们如何合作，他们如何全力以赴地竞争。对我来说，这些都是球员相信他们教练的明显标志。他们在攻防两端都很有条理。所以你可以看到，日复一日，他们正在获得他们需要的准备，以建立一支球队应该有的样子。他做得非常出色。”
约翰逊赞扬球员们让他的工作变得轻松。
“经历了一些艰难的逆境，但队员们都很棒，”他说。“他们让上班变得有趣，他们让应对挑战变得有趣。今年出现了一些非常独特的挑战。”
巴恩斯说，他和他的队友对约翰逊表现出了对波波维奇一样的尊重。
“这是一样的，你想以正确的方式打球，你想努力赢得比赛，你想出去以正确的方式打球，”巴恩斯说。
马刺队在11月份表示，波波维奇预计将完全康复，但没有提供有关他的康复或回归时间表的详细信息。
在他生病后唯一的公开声明中，他在12月份发表的评论表明他希望重返教练席。
“没有人比那些一直领导我康复过程的有才华的人更兴奋地看到我回到教练席了，”波波维奇说。“他们很快就了解到我不太听话。”
但考虑到他的年龄、疾病的严重性和马刺队剩余赛程的艰苦性，本赛季回归似乎不太可能，其中包括13场客场比赛，从周二在新奥尔良的比赛开始，五个背靠背的比赛，只有两个阶段他们有超过一天休息时间。
尽管如此，马刺队仍然指望得到波波维奇的指导和支持，波波维奇也是球队的篮球运营总裁，即使这种支持来自远方。
“他正在观看比赛，仍然像以往一样固执己见，而且像你想象的那样具有竞争力，”约翰逊在1月份说。“所以，既表扬我，又同时骂我。”
波波维奇是NBA历史上获胜最多的教练，常规赛取得了1412场胜利（根据NBA规则，约翰逊带领下的马刺队胜利归于波波维奇），季后赛又取得了170场胜利。马刺队在波波维奇的带领下赢得了五次总冠军，当时他执教球队的第29个赛季正处于早期阶段，然后他中风了。
波波维奇是北美四大职业体育联盟中任职时间最长的现役教练。2020年，他成为NBA历史上开幕之夜最年长的教练。当时他72岁。
波波维奇在2023年7月与马刺队续签了一份为期五年、价值8000万美元的合同，这使他的年薪增加到1600万美元，使他成为当时联盟收入最高的教练。
这位空军学院的毕业生和前空军军官于1996年12月接任马刺队教练。他的季后赛胜利使他在NBA历史榜单上排名第三，仅次于菲尔·杰克逊(Phil Jackson)（229场）和帕特·莱利(Pat Riley)（171场）。
波波维奇于2023年8月进入奈史密斯篮球名人堂。
虽然不确定下赛季谁将成为马刺队的主教练，但约翰逊似乎因为经历了本赛季的“火线洗礼”而变得更好了。
“我不认为你能以最糟糕的方式获得更好的指导，”雄鹿队教练道格·里弗斯(Doc Rivers)说。“波波的鞋子，没人想试着填补。它们太大了。然后你被投入其中，不知道你会因此被投入其中，没有准备，然后又有所有这些其他的事情，去巴黎，洛杉矶的火灾，处理一颗冉冉升起的新星。
“……这很多。而且是一支非常非常年轻的球队，除了CP（克里斯·保罗(Chris Paul)）和其他几个人。这是一项艰巨的工作。”
尽管如此，已故的西雅图超音速队两届全明星约翰·约翰逊(John Johnson)的儿子约翰逊还是取得了成功。
“我热爱篮球，”他说。“我的父亲打篮球。对我来说，在某种形式或方式上，它一直是我家族的生意。我非常喜欢它，以至于我年轻的时候停止了其他运动……因为我只是知道我对它有一种致命的吸引力。正如我之前所说，这就是我决定如何使用我从斯坦福大学获得的学位，这个学位非常受人尊敬。我决定每天都去健身房，穿着运动服。但这已经超过了我想要的一切。这个机会是一种恩赐。”
Spurs interim head coach Mitch Johnson, right, has guided Chris Paul and the Spurs through what has been a tumultuous season, including a “devastating” injury to Victor Wembanyama.
Mitch Johnson has kept the Spurs within arms reach of a Western Conference play-in spot, despite taking over the team under difficult circumstances.
Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich is the winningest coach in NBA history, and his 170 postseason wins rank third all-time.
点击查看原文：Spurs ready to finish out season with Johnson in charge
Spurs ready to finish out season with Johnson in charge
NEW ORLEANS — With just 27 games left in the Spurs season after Sunday night’s outing against the Pelicans, it seems unlikely Gregg Popovich would return to coach the team nearly four months after he suffered what the club called a mild stroke.
While the players miss the Hall of Famer, they are confident they are in good hands with Mitch Johnson serving as acting coach and are ready to play out the season with the 38-year-old assistant calling the shots.
“Mitch,” forward Harrison Barnes said Sunday, “has done an incredible job.”
Johnson was tasked with the difficult duty of stepping into a legend’s shoes after Popovich became ill Nov. 2 just hours before a game against Minnesota. But through Friday’s loss to Detroit in Austin, the Spurs, who entered Sunday’s contest 24-30, were a respectable 22-27 with Johnson in charge after the front office chose him to take the reins despite having an experienced former NBA coach on the bench in assistant Brett Brown, 64.
Barnes said one of the most impressive things about the former Stanford point guard is he hasn’t tried to imitate the 76-year-old Popovich’s style.
“Mitch has done just a great job of being himself … and in just trying to hold us to the standard of how the Spurs play,” Barnes said.
Johnson said he is prepared to finish the job he started.
“We’ve talked about from when this first happened that Pop’s health is the priority, and that I would be coaching when he was away,” Johnson said. “And I have not asked for anything other than the support I’ve gotten, and it’s been great. So, at this point, everything remains the same.”
Several of Johnson’s peers have taken note of his work and how he’s stayed calm while facing plenty of adversity.
In addition to overcoming the shock of having to replace Popovich on the fly, Johnson has steered the Spurs through several difficult situations, including injuries, two games in New York in the thick of the holiday season, an array of logistical issues while they were in Los Angeles for five days as wildfires ravaged the area, the week-long trip to Paris for two games, and the challenge of integrating recently acquired star guard De’Aaron Fox into the lineup.
On top of all that, Johnson is now tasked with holding the team together after it lost All-Star center Victor Wembanyama for the season last Wednesday to a blood clot in his right shoulder, a development Johnson called “devastating.”
“He’s done a great job,” Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. "One, this job is not an easy job. Two, being thrown into it without training camp and when the season’s already going and not having the expectation that that’s going to be your job and not having the time to prepare for that, it’s extremely difficult to assume those responsibilities.
“But you can tell by the way they play he’s got them to buy into him. You watch how selfless they play, how they play together, how they compete their tails off. To me, those are the telltale signs of players believing in their coach. They’re organized on both sides of the ball. So you can tell day by day they’re getting the preparation they need to build what a team should look like. He’s done a phenomenal job.”
Johnson credited the players with making his job easy.
“There’s been some hard adversity, and the guys have been great,” he said. “They make it fun to go to work and they make it fun to navigate challenges. And there’s been some really unique challenges this year.”
Barnes said he and his teammates have shown Johnson the same respect they showed Popovich.
“It’s the same thing, you want to play a certain way the right way, you want to try to win the game, you want to go out there and play the right way,” Barnes said.
The Spurs said in November that Popovich is expected to make a full recovery but offered no details about his rehabilitation or a timeline for his return.
In his only public statement since he fell ill, he made comments in December that suggested he hoped to return to coaching.
“No one is more excited to see me return to the bench than the talented individuals who have been leading my rehabilitation process,” Popovich said. “They’ve quickly learned that I’m less than coachable.”
But a return this season doesn’t seem likely given his age, the seriousness of his ailment and the grueling nature of the Spurs’ remaining schedule, which includes 13 more road games beginning with Tuesday’s game in New Orleans, five back-to-back sets, and only two periods in which they have more than one day off between games.
Still, the Spurs are counting on receiving guidance and support from Popovich, who is also the team’s president of basketball operations, even if it’s from afar.
“He is watching games, still opinionated as he’s ever been, and competitive as what you would think,” Johnson said in January. “So, giving praise and cussing me out all at the same time.”
Popovich is the NBA’s winningest coach with 1,412 regular-season victories (per NBA rules, the Spurs wins under Johnson go to Popovich) and an additional 170 victories in the postseason. The Spurs won five championships under Popovich, who was in the early stages of his 29th season as the team’s coach when he suffered the stroke.
Popovich is the longest-tenured active coach in the four major North American pro sports leagues. In 2020, he became the oldest coach ever on an opening night in NBA history. He was 72 at the time.
Popovich received a five-year, $80 million contract extension from the Spurs in July 2023, which increased his salary to $16 million per year, making him at the time the league’s highest-paid coach.
The Air Force Academy graduate and former Air Force officer took over as coach of the Spurs in December 1996. His postseason wins put him third on the NBA’s all-time chart behind Phil Jackson (229) and Pat Riley (171).
Popovich entered the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in August 2023.
While it’s uncertain who will be the Spurs coach next season, Johnson seems better off for having gone through this season’s baptism by fire.
“I don’t know if you can have a better tutorial in the worst way,” Milwaukee coach Doc Rivers said. "The shoes Pop has, no one wants to try to fill those. They’re just too big. And then you get thrown into it, not knowing you’re going to get thrown into it, with no preparation, and then having all this other stuff, going to Paris, the L.A. fires, dealing with a budding superstar.
“…That’s a lot. And a very, very young team, other than CP (Chris Paul) and a couple other guys. That’s a hard job.”
Despite it all, Johnson, the son of late Seattle SuperSonics two-time All-Star John Johnson, has thrived.
“I love basketball,” he said. “My dad played. It’s been the family business in some form or fashion for me my whole life. And I love it to the point that I stopped playing other sports when I was younger … because I just knew I had a fatal attraction for it. And as I’ve said before, it’s how I decided to use my degree from Stanford that is so well thought of. I decided go to the gym and wear sweats every day. But it’s been everything and more than I’ve wanted. The opportunity has been a blessing.”
By Tom Orsborn, Staff writer, via San Antonio Express-News