Greg Popovich resigned from his position as head coach for the San Antonio Spurs after 29 seasons with the team.
On Friday, the Spurs announced that 76-year-old Popovich will move into the role of president of basketball operations in the organization.
Over 29 seasons, Popovich overseen 1,422 regular season victories. It is the most head coach in NBA history, and most recently led the Spurs to five NBA championships in 2014.
“While my love and passion for the game remained, I decided it was time to leave as head coach,” Popovich said.
“I am forever grateful to the incredible players, coaches, staff and fans who have allowed me to serve them as the Spurs head coach. I am excited to continue to support an organization, community and city that makes a lot of sense to me.”
Popovich has not been a bystander since suffering a mild stroke in November before beating the Minnesota Timberwolves.
In his absence, the Spurs were unable to reach the 2025 NBA playoffs – they have not played in the postseason since 2019 after finishing the regular season with a 34-48 record.
Mitch Johnson, who served as acting head coach after Popovich took a leave following his stroke, takes over as head coach.
Popovich arrived in San Antonio as an assistant coach in 1988 and returned to the Spurs as head coach in 1996 after two years of spells with the Golden State Warriors.
He was the longest serving active coach in major sports in the United States.
The longest NBA coach is Eric Sporstra, 54, who has led the Miami Heat since the 2008-09 season.
Popovich led the US men’s basketball team to gold at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2023 as coach.
