PARIS — As the San Antonio Spurs prepare for their second game against the Indiana Pacers on Saturday at the NBA Paris Games, interim head coach Mitch Johnson remains in a position he didn’t expect to be in at the start of the season .
Head coach Gregg Popovich suffered a stroke on November 2, catapulting Johnson not only into a job he didn’t expect to get for some time, but also into perhaps the biggest role of coach of all of basketball.
Johnson isn’t just in the business of winning games. He is also responsible for developing Victor Wembanyama and a consistent core of young players under the age of 25.
No matter how much you prepare for a job, when it comes out of nowhere and at this level of magnitude, it’s not something you just walk into.
And yet, here we are. The Spurs are competitive. Wembanyama is becoming a superstar. And several other players, like Jeremy Sochan, Stephon Castle and Devin Vassell, are taking places in the league.
Plus, Johnson found a way to take ownership of this team and did it on the fly.
Fans would be forgiven for thinking that Johnson would be asked to simply copy and paste Popovich’s philosophy, but as every basketball player – at every level – will tell you: coaches are people first and foremost, and they care of people.
Johnson flies the Spurs further down the court and splashes long 3-pointers, a shot that Popovich – often humorously – criticizes.
“Mitch did a great job, as did our entire coaching staff,” Chris Paul said Thursday during the new postgame conference after San Antonio’s loss to Indiana.
“I think when you’re in a situation like that, when you’re thrust into a head coaching position, you’ve already established a trust with the guys because he was often the guy who made the work the guys, coaching them and so on, so he did an incredible job.”
How to connect with players is obviously one thing, but any coach worth his salt will need to support that to some extent within the lines, whether it’s strategic adjustments, sharing basketball knowledge or a real impact on the careers of players.
According to Paul, 39, Johnson already commanded respect from the team because of his playing career.
“He coaches with passion,” said the 20-year veteran. “You can tell Mitch played hoops, as a point guard at Stanford. He coaches with passion and I think that fuels [into] our team. There’s a lot of trust there, there’s a lot of communication and it’s great for me to be able to play for him.”
That’s high praise, especially coming from one of the best point guards of all time, older than the 38-year-old Johnson.
This is a testament not only to Johnson’s abilities as a coach, but also to the players’ openness to accepting this unexpected change.
Wembanyama — who clearly misses Popovich, who is making positive steps in his recovery — took the team out to dinner Monday night, as the 75-year-old coach likely would have done.
For Johnson to manage all of this on the fly, while being asked to win, is a ridiculously difficult undertaking. He must allow his team to care about their head coach, while commanding respect in the role occupied by a legend.
Fortunately, winning isn’t really a problem anymore.
The Spurs are already 20-22 after winning just 22 games last season.
While Wembanyama obviously played a major role in this turnaround, it’s clear that Johnson took over and found a way to go first, challenges be damned.
This alone deserves praise.