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The San Antonio Spurs announced that the organization has named Mitch Johnson as the team’s new head coach.

Johnson becomes the 19th head coach in San Antonio franchise history. He takes over for Gregg Popovich after the Hall of Famer transitioned into the president of basketball operations role following his 29 seasons as head coach. After Popovich stepped away from the team for health reasons five games into last year, Johnson was appointed the Spurs acting head coach for the remaining 77 games of the 2024-25 season.

“We are thrilled for Mitch Johnson to be our next head coach,” said Spurs Managing Partner Peter J. Holt. “Throughout his decade in the organization we have seen that Mitch has the right values, poise and potential to lead us into the future.”

Entering his 10th season with the Spurs, Johnson started with the organization in 2016 as an assistant coach for the Austin Spurs, San Antonio’s G League affiliate, where he helped guide the team to the 2018 G League Championship. He has spent the last six seasons as an assistant coach on Popovich’s staff, including five of those years on the front of the bench after he was promoted in 2020.

Prior to joining the Spurs, Johnson spent one season as an assistant at the University of Portland in 2015-16 after coaching in the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League. He played collegiately at Stanford University as a four-year starter with Brook Lopez, Robin Lopez and Landry Fields, before spending three seasons in the G League and overseas in Europe. Johnson is the son of 12-year NBA veteran John Johnson and has four children – Tasia, Tatum, Johnnie and Jameson – with his wife, Jessica.

“I am truly grateful and honored to receive this incredible opportunity,” said Johnson. “I am thankful for Coach Pop, RC, Brian and Peter trusting me to carry on our culture and I promise to give this responsibility everything I have to make Spurs fans proud.”

Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving has spent his national team duty as part of Team USA to this point in his career. However, Irving is in process of trying to make the switch to represent Australia on the national level.

“Man, we’re in the process of that right now, just trying to figure out the best route for me to be eligible,” Irving said of switching to play for Australia. “There’s a lot of paperwork involved. Obviously, USA (Basketball) still has a decision to make, but for me, I’m just trying to do what’s best. Honestly, if I can be an Aussie at one point in my career and play for the Australian team, that would be great.”

Irving was born in Australia, which would have made him eligible to represent the country on the national team level. The All-Star guard explained that in the past he was encouraged to play for Team USA instead, which he did at the 2014 FIBA World Cup and the 2016 Olympics. Now, if Irving can get the clearances, he’d like to suit up for Australia in future competition.