By NBA Insiders | ESPN, 2025-05-03 05:31:00
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。
上周五，圣安东尼奥马刺队宣布，格雷格·波波维奇(Gregg Popovich)将不再担任球队主教练，转为全职担任篮球运营总裁。
76岁的波波维奇以1422场常规赛胜利结束了他的执教生涯，成为联盟历史上胜场最多的教练，并拥有五座总冠军奖杯和追平NBA纪录的三次年度最佳教练奖。在波波维奇11月轻微中风后，米奇·约翰逊被任命为代理主教练，现在他将永久接任主教练的职责。
我们向NBA内部人士提出了关于马刺队和波波维奇决定的几个重要问题，包括事情是如何走到这一步的，球队的下一步计划是什么，以及约翰逊将为球队带来什么，因为圣安东尼奥希望在冉冉升起的新星维克托·文班亚马、后卫达龙·福克斯和新晋年度最佳新秀斯蒂芬·卡斯尔(Stephon Castle)的带领下，开启一个争冠窗口。
1. 马刺和波波维奇是如何做出这个决定的？
马刺队一直认为，波波维奇有权决定何时是退位的最佳时机。波波维奇坚决表示，只有当他觉得自己身体上能够胜任这份工作时，他才会回来。他仍然渴望执教，近年来他说与渴望学习的年轻球员一起工作让他感到精神焕发。
但最终，波波维奇决定他需要转变为支持约翰逊的角色，他非常喜欢约翰逊，并对他作为自己的继任者寄予厚望。
– 拉莫娜·谢尔伯恩
2. 联盟人士如何评价波波维奇的举动？
既有释然，也有清晰。波波维奇在过去的几个月里肯定一直在考虑继续执教，这就是为什么他宣布本赛季不会回归时，并没有提及他的未来。但他是NBA的王室成员，人们担心这位传奇教练的健康。最近发生的一起需要去医院的事件，更加剧了人们对波波维奇健康的担忧。
波波维奇为马刺队留下了一个极好的局面。他在场边赢得了五座总冠军奖杯，但也可以说，他最伟大的成就之一是留下了一个清晰的应急计划。
“在过去的几年里，他承担了很多本不必承担的失利；这是一个非常无私的行为，”一位资深联盟高管告诉ESPN。“球队已经为成功做好了准备。对他来说不幸的是，他不会在场边见证这一切，但球队的下一代身上有着他的印记。”
除了愿意在他执教生涯的最后几年采取最艰难的重建措施外，波波维奇还帮助创建并维护了一种著名的文化。多年来，许多组织试图通过挖走波波维奇的前厅和教练组来复制它。这种文化将在他离开这个职位后继续存在。
他还帮助培养了他的继任者，约翰逊在他的执教期间稳步获得了更多的职责。即使在约翰逊被任命为代理主教练之前，波波维奇让他在暂停期间制定比赛后期的战略也并不罕见。多年来，有许多助教被视为圣安东尼奥某种未定义的“候任主教练”。这是因为波波维奇相信像培养年轻球员一样培养助教，通过识别他们并培养那些他认为具有高潜力的人。
如果这个职位空缺出来，但事实并非如此，因为马刺队处理所有事务的方式都很干净和低调，那么它将被视为联盟中最好的职位之一。一旦波波维奇卸任教练但继续担任总裁的消息传开，联盟就知道约翰逊很可能会是人选。有时在NBA中保持“家族式”经营是有问题的。但在圣安东尼奥，这是一种秘方。
波波维奇一直很重视并保护这一点。联盟也知道他正在传承这一点。
– 布莱恩·温德霍斯特
3. 米奇·约翰逊是谁？为什么马刺队给他长期合同？
新奥尔良鹈鹕队控球后卫德章泰·穆雷(Dejounte Murray)曾多次告诉ESPN，约翰逊在他青少年时期救了他的命，他将穆雷从少管所保释出来，并让他参加一个严格的学术和篮球项目，帮助这位现年28岁的球员进入大学和NBA。因此，当马刺队在选秀过程中（2016年）开始考察穆雷时，约翰逊的执教和沟通能力迅速引起了球队的注意，并让他加入了球队的G联赛附属球队奥斯汀马刺队担任助理教练。
“当他15岁把我从少管所弄出来时，我们说了一件事，‘我们在一起’，”穆雷在接受ESPN采访时谈到约翰逊时说。“就像是，我们将投入所有该死的努力，我们将看看这些努力会把我们带到哪里。所以，即使我们进入联盟，我们也不知道所有这些事情会发生，或者事情会如何发生。但就像是，我们都投入了努力。剩下的将成为历史。”
约翰逊在球队中迅速晋升，并在波波维奇手下担任了六个赛季的助理教练，其中包括在2020年晋升后在板凳席前排坐了五年。
米奇·约翰逊是前两届NBA全明星和1979年总冠军约翰·“J.J.”·约翰逊的儿子，他在高中时期是一位颇有成就的球员（在西雅图的奥迪亚高中获得了两次州冠军，在高中四年级时场均得到22分和8次助攻），并且在斯坦福大学上大学时也是一位出色的球员，在那里他与布鲁克·洛佩兹、罗宾·洛佩兹和兰德里·菲尔兹一起首发了四年。布鲁克·洛佩兹告诉ESPN，在大学里，他们称约翰逊为“大师”，因为“他指挥和运作比赛的方式”。
“看到他现在所处的位置并不令人惊讶。他属于那里，”洛佩兹补充道。“[他]是一位非常聪明的篮球运动员，是我合作或接触过的篮球智商最高的人。”
在马刺队内部，约翰逊在波波维奇中风和球队因维克托·文班亚马肩部血栓问题而将其搁置后，以其应对动荡赛季的方式给波波维奇、马刺队首席执行官RC·布福德和总经理布莱恩·莱特(Wright)留下了深刻印象。在前往纽约和巴黎的长达一周的旅程中，更不用说在野火期间的洛杉矶了，约翰逊的领导力在不利的情况下从未动摇。约翰逊让球员承担责任。
他的话总能在更衣室里引起共鸣。圣安东尼奥的球员始终为约翰逊而战，这并没有被球队的决策者所忽视。
“我相信球队，”文班亚马说。“我也相信米奇能成长为这个角色。我认为我们整个团队都在互相支持，我们处境很好。”
– 迈克尔·C·莱特
4. 圣安东尼奥的休赛期会是什么样子？
明确主教练是马刺队待办事项清单上的首要任务。
现在的重点转移到选秀乐透。马刺队不仅拥有自己的首轮选秀权，还拥有来自亚特兰大的一个首轮选秀权。（圣安东尼奥有6%的概率从第8位升到第一位，而亚特兰大的概率为0.7%。）至于阵容，有10名球员在合同期内，其中包括连续两届年度最佳新秀维克托·文班亚马和斯蒂芬·卡斯尔。
通过交易得到福克斯仍然使圣安东尼奥队有能力在今年夏天如果有像凯文·杜兰特或扬尼斯·安特托昆博这样的球员可以交易时再次进行一次大的交易。马刺队有权在明年与亚特兰大进行选秀互换，然后在2027年拥有老鹰队不受保护的首轮选秀权。总的来说，他们在未来八年内拥有六个首轮选秀权，多个年份的选秀互换权和17个次轮选秀权。他们还拥有德文·瓦塞尔、哈里森·巴恩斯和凯尔登·约翰逊的大合同。
马刺队日历上要圈出的一个日期是8月3日。那是福克斯可以签下一份为期四年、价值2.29亿美元的顶薪续约合同的第一天。并密切关注克里斯·保罗的未来。在去年休赛期签下一份为期一年的合同后，保罗职业生涯中第二次打满了82场比赛，并将进入自由球员市场。
– 鲍勃·马克斯
5. 下赛季对圣安东尼奥的期望是什么？
进入2026年的季后赛是一个合理的期望，而未能进入季后赛可能会令人失望。本赛季文班亚马参加的46场比赛中，马刺队的战绩为21胜25负，在圣安东尼奥队重磅赛季中期交易和文班亚马因深静脉血栓而缺席比赛之间，只有五场比赛是文班亚马与福克斯一起出战的。
缓慢地培养文班亚马使马刺队能够在去年六月用4号签选中卡斯尔，并在今年再选一个乐透签，但是随着福克斯的到来以及圣安东尼奥队囤积的未来选秀权，现在是时候开始让这些年轻球员在高强度比赛中获得经验了。
只有科比·布莱恩特、卢卡·东契奇、德怀特·霍华德和勒布朗·詹姆斯在21.5岁之前入选过NBA最佳阵容，文班亚马本来有望做到这一点，但由于缺席，他未能达到65场比赛的最低要求。所有这些球员都在他们职业生涯的第三个赛季完成了他们的季后赛首秀，霍华德和詹姆斯都在第三年取得了突破。
马刺队进入季后赛的最大障碍是竞争激烈的西部联盟，本赛季没有一支季后赛球队的胜场数少于48场。没有明显的竞争者会跌出季后赛，但上赛季的情况也是如此，然而休斯顿火箭队和孟菲斯灰熊队设法进入了前八名，而鹈鹕队和菲尼克斯太阳队意外跌出。
至少，圣安东尼奥应该能够自2022年以来首次闯入附加赛。如果文班亚马保持健康，马刺队本赛季有机会争夺第十号种子。但目标应该是进入西部前六名，圣安东尼奥队上次做到这一点是在2019年——值得注意的是，这是NBA第二长的现役季后赛荒，仅次于境况不佳的夏洛特黄蜂队。
– 凯文·佩尔顿
点击查看原文：Gregg Popovich done coaching Spurs - What's next in San Antonio?
Gregg Popovich done coaching Spurs - What’s next in San Antonio?
On Friday, the San Antonio Spurs announced that Gregg Popovich will no longer coach the team and is transitioning to a full-time role as president of basketball operations.
Popovich, 76, ends his coaching tenure as the league’s career wins leader with 1,422 regular-season victories and has five championships and an NBA record-tying three Coach of the Year awards. Enter Mitch Johnson, who was named acting head coach after Popovich suffered a mild stroke in November and will now take over coaching duties on a permanent basis.
We asked our NBA insiders the big questions following the Spurs and Popovich’s decision, including how it came to this, what’s next for the franchise and what Johnson brings to the role as San Antonio looks to open a contending window led by budding superstar Victor Wembanyama, guard De’Aaron Fox and newly minted Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle.
1. How did the Spurs and Pop come to this decision?
The Spurs were determined that Popovich had earned the right to decide when the time was right to step away. Popovich was adamant that he would come back only if he felt he could physically do the job. He still had a desire to coach, saying in recent years that he felt invigorated by working with young players eager to learn.
But ultimately, Popovich decided he needed to shift into a supportive role with Johnson, whom he was very fond of and high on as his successor.
– Ramona Shelburne
2. What are people around the league saying about Pop’s move?
There is relief and clarity. Popovich was definitely mulling continuing to coach these past few months, which is why his announcement that he wouldn’t return during the season didn’t say anything about his future. But he is NBA royalty and there was concern about the legendary coach’s health. After an incident recently that required a trip to the hospital, there was even more concern for Popovich’s well-being.
The Spurs have been left in an excellent place by Popovich. He won five titles on the sideline, but it is also fair to say one of his greatest accomplishments was leaving the position with a clean contingency plan.
“He took a lot of losses over the last few years that he didn’t have to take; it was a very unselfish act,” one veteran league executive told ESPN. “The team is set up for success. Unfortunately for him, he won’t be on the sidelines for it, but the next generation of the team has his fingerprints on it.”
In addition to being willing to take the hardest steps in a rebuild in his last years in the job, Popovich helped create and maintain a renowned culture. Many organizations over the years tried to duplicate it by raiding Popovich’s front office and coaching staff. That culture will carry on long after his departure from the position.
He also helped train his replacement, as Johnson steadily got more responsibilities in his time on the bench. It wasn’t unusual, even before Johnson was named acting head coach, that Popovich would have him draw up late-game strategy in huddles. Over the years there were many assistants who were viewed as some undefined “head coach in waiting” in San Antonio. That’s because Popovich believed in developing assistants like he developed young players, by identifying them and nurturing those who he felt had high potential.
If this job had been open, and it never was because the Spurs handled all their business cleanly and quietly, it would’ve been viewed as one of the best in the league. As soon as word got out that Popovich was stepping down as coach but staying on as president, the league knew Johnson was very likely going to be the pick. Sometimes keeping things in the family in the NBA is problematic. In San Antonio, it’s a secret sauce.
Popovich has always valued that and protected that. And the league knows he’s passing it on.
– Brian Windhorst
3. Who is Mitch Johnson, and why did the Spurs give him the long-term job?
New Orleans Pelicans point guard Dejounte Murray has told ESPN on numerous occasions that Johnson saved his life as a teen by bailing him out of jail and putting him on a strict academics and basketball program that helped the now-28-year-old matriculate to college and the NBA. So, when the Spurs started vetting Murray during the draft process (2016), Johnson quickly caught the organization’s attention for his coaching and communication acumen and brought him aboard as an assistant with the club’s G League affiliate Austin Spurs.
“One thing we said when he came and got me out of juvenile when I was 15 was, ‘We are in this together,’” Murray told ESPN of Johnson. “It was like, we’re going to put in all this damned work and we’re going to see where the work takes us. So, even when we got into the league, we never knew all these things were going to happen or how things would happen. But it was like, we both put the work in. The rest is going to be history.”
Johnson advanced quickly through the organization and has spent the past six seasons as an assistant under Popovich, including five years at the front of the bench after a 2020 promotion.
The son of former two-time NBA All-Star and 1979 champion John “J.J.” Johnson, Mitch Johnson was an accomplished player in high school (two state championships at O’Dea High School in Seattle, where he averaged 22 points and eight assists as a senior) and college at Stanford, where he was a four-year starter playing alongside Brook Lopez, Robin Lopez and Landry Fields. Brook Lopez told ESPN that in college, they nicknamed Johnson “Maestro” due to the “the way he conducts and runs the show.”
“Seeing him in the position he’s in now is not a shock. He belongs there,” Lopez added. “[He’s] such an intelligent basketball player, the highest basketball IQ I’ve ever played with or been around.”
Within the Spurs organization, Johnson impressed Popovich, Spurs CEO RC Buford and GM Brian Wright with the way he navigated a tumultuous season in the wake of Popovich’s stroke and the club shelving Wembanyama due to a blood clot issue in his shoulder. Johnson’s leadership never wavered in adverse situations during weeklong trips to New York and Paris, not to mention Los Angeles during the wildfires. Johnson held players accountable.
His words always resonated in the locker room. San Antonio’s players consistently competed for Johnson, and it didn’t go unnoticed among the franchise’s decision-makers.
“I trust the organization,” Wembanyama said. “I also trust Mitch to grow into that role. I think we are in good hands supporting each other throughout the organization.”
– Michael C. Wright
4. What will the offseason look like in San Antonio?
Getting clarity at head coach was the top priority on the Spurs’ to-do list.
The focus now shifts to the lottery. The Spurs not only have their own first-round pick but also a first from Atlanta. (San Antonio has a 6% chance of moving up from No. 8 to the top spot, while Atlanta’s is 0.7%.) As for the roster, 10 players are under contract, led by back-to-back Rookies of the Year in Victor Wembanyama and Stephon Castle.
The trade for Fox still has San Antonio positioned to make another big swing if a player such as Kevin Durant or Giannis Antetokounmpo becomes available this summer. The Spurs have the right to swap with Atlanta next year and then have the Hawks’ unprotected first-round pick in 2027. In total, they have six firsts in the next eight years, multiple years of pick swaps and 17 seconds. They also have the sizable contracts of Devin Vassell, Harrison Barnes and Keldon Johnson.
One date to circle on the Spurs’ calendar is Aug. 3. That is the first day Fox can sign a four-year $229 million max extension. And keep an eye on Chris Paul’s future. After signing a one-year deal last offseason, Paul played all 82 games for the second time in his career and is set to enter free agency.
– Bobby Marks
5. What are the expectations for San Antonio next season?
The 2026 postseason is a reasonable expectation, and falling short of the playoffs might be something of a disappointment. The Spurs were 21-25 this season in the 46 games Wembanyama played, just five of which came alongside Fox between San Antonio’s blockbuster midseason trade and Wembanyama being sidelined with deep vein thrombosis.
Slow-playing Wembanyama’s development allowed the Spurs to add Castle with the No. 4 pick last June and another lottery pick this year, but with the arrival of Fox and the future picks San Antonio has stockpiled, now is the time to start getting those young players experience in high-intensity games.
Only Kobe Bryant, Luka Doncic, Dwight Howard and LeBron James have been voted All-NBA before age 21.5, something Wembanyama was on track to achieve before falling short of the 65-game minimum due to his absence. All of those players made their playoff debuts by their third seasons in the league, with Howard and James both breaking through in Year 3.
The biggest obstacle to the Spurs making the playoffs is the loaded Western Conference, where no playoff team won fewer than 48 games this season. There’s no obvious contender to fall out of the playoffs, but the same was true last season, yet the Houston Rockets and Memphis Grizzlies managed to break into the top eight, with the Pelicans and Phoenix Suns unexpectedly falling out.
At a minimum, San Antonio should be able to crack the play-in tournament for the first time since 2022. The Spurs would have had a chance at claiming the 10th seed this season had Wembanyama stayed healthy. But the goal should be reaching the West’s top six, something San Antonio last did in 2019 – remarkably, the NBA’s second-longest active playoff drought after the lowly Charlotte Hornets.
– Kevin Pelton
By NBA Insiders | ESPN, via ESPN