PARIS — As the San Antonio Spurs get ready for their second game against the Indiana Pacers on Saturday at the NBA Paris Games, acting head coach Mitch Johnson remains in a position he didn’t anticipate being in when the season started.
Head coach Gregg Popovich suffered a stroke Nov. 2, catapulting Johnson not just into a job he wasn’t expecting to come around for some time but also into perhaps the biggest coaching gig in all of basketball.
Johnson isn’t just tasked with winning games. He’s also tasked with the burden of developing Victor Wembanyama and a steady core of young players under the age of 25.
Regardless of how much one can prepare for a job, when it comes out of the blue and carries this level of magnitude, it’s not something you just walk into.
And yet, here we are. The Spurs are competitive. Wembanyama is blossoming into a superstar. And several other players, such as Jeremy Sochan, Stephon Castle and Devin Vassell, are taking their places in the league.
Furthermore, Johnson has found a way to make this team his own and has done so on the fly.
Fans would be forgiven for believing Johnson would be asked to just copy and paste Popovich’s philosophy, but as every basketball player — at any level — will tell you: Coaches are people first, and they’re in the people business.
Johnson has the Spurs flying up the court more and splashing long 3-pointers, a shot that Popovich — often humorously — critiques.
“Mitch has done a great job, along with our whole coaching staff,” Chris Paul said Thursday during the postgame new conference after San Antonio’s rout of Indiana.
“I think when you’re in a situation like that, getting thrust into a head-coaching position, you’ve already built trust with guys because he was a lot of times the guy who was working guys out, training guys and whatnot, so he’s done an amazing job.”
How to connect with players is obviously one thing, but any coach worth his salt will have to back it up in some capacity within the lines, be that strategic adjustments, sharing basketball knowledge or actually make an impact on players’ careers.
According to the 39-year-old Paul, Johnson’s already commanded the team’s respect due to his career as a player.
“He coaches with passion,” the 20-year veteran said. “You can tell Mitch used to hoop, as a point guard at Stanford. He coaches with passion and I think that feeds [into] our team. There’s a lot of trust there, there’s a lot of communication, and great for me to be able to play for him.”
This is high praise, especially coming from one of the best point guards of all time who is older than Johnson, 38.
It further speaks to not just Johnson’s abilities as a coach, but also how open the players have been to embrace this unexpected change.
Wembanyama — clearly missing Popovich, who is making positive steps in his recovery — took the team to dinner Monday night, as the 75-year-old coach would likely have done.
For Johnson to navigate all of this on the fly, while also being asked to win, is a ridiculously difficult undertaking. He has to allow his team to be concerned about their head coach, while also commanding their respect in the role occupied by a legend.
Fortunately, the winning isn’t really that big of a concern anymore.
The Spurs are already 20-22 after winning just 22 games all last season.
While Wembanyama, obviously has played a major role in that turnaround, it’s clear that Johnson has stepped up to the plate and found a way to get onto first, challenges be damned.
That alone is worthy of some high praise.
