by For the first time since he suffered a mild stroke before a game on November 2nd, Legendary San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich released a statement.
This has certainly been an unexpected six weeks for my family and me. As we work together on my recovery, I want to take a moment to share that the overwhelming support we have received during this time has been truly overwhelming in the best way possible. While I wish I could reach out to each and every one of you for now, I want to say that my family and I are forever grateful. We are grateful for our wonderful community, the entire Spurs organization, and our family and friends.
No one is more excited about my return to the dugout than the talented people who have guided my rehabilitation process. They quickly learned that I was untrainable.
Popovich is clear he wants to return to the bench, but there is no timetable yet. Since Pop’s stroke, Mitch Johnson has coached the Spurs on an interim basis, and the team is 11-10 during that time and is in contention for a play-in spot in the West.
Popovich is the NBA’s winningest coach of all time, a five-time NBA champion and coached Team USA to an Olympic gold medal in Tokyo. He has the power to decide whether he returns to the bench and when he leaves the league. For now he wants to return.
