San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich, the oldest coach in the NBA, suffered a mild stroke on Nov. 2 and is recovering from that, although there is no timeline on his return. The Spurs announced the diagnosis on Wednesday.
The Spurs organization had closed ranks around Popovich since he went out on Nov. 2 with what the team called at the time a “health issue,” although the way they reacted suggested this was not a simple cold or flu that might cost him a handful of games.
A stroke is when blood flow to the brain is blocked and cut off (or, more rarely, a blood vessel inside the brain bursts), and there are widely varied levels of severity and long-term impact based on where the clot happens and how fast the patient gets treatment. The Spurs called it a “mild” stroke, which is the actual medical classification for a level of stroke, one with symptoms many people associate with the condition: weakness and numbness on one side of the face (or body, such as the arm), which leads to a sagging effect, it is coupled with difficulty speaking or understanding what is being communicated to them. However, as the name “mild” suggests, the impacts are not as severe as they could be.
If, as it appears happened in this case, Popovich got rapid medical treatment — the stroke happened while he was at the arena, according to the Spurs — and was treated with a “tissue plasminogen activator (tPA)” drug, it would help limit the long-term impacts of the stoke by breaking up the blood clots (it is why immediate treatment is critical for strokes, there is a time limit on how long before those drugs are no longer effective).
The Spurs are still leaving open a Popovich return this season, although whether he wants to return to coaching long term or decide to step away is up to him. San Antonio’s management has long said Popovich will decide when he wants to walk away; this health scare will have Pop reflecting on that very question.
Popovich is an NBA coaching legend — a five-time NBA champion, coached Team USA to an Olympic gold medal in Tokyo, and has won more regular season games than any coach in the history of the NBA. His coaching tree — Mike Budenholzer, Ime Idoka, Steve Kerr, Mike Brown and many more — is the foundation of franchises around the league.
