SAN ANTONIO – As the Frost Bank Center filled up Wednesday night with Spurs fans for the game against the Wizards, John de Hoyos said all he could think about was Gregg Popovich.
“I’m just wishing well for him,” de Hoyos said. “Honestly, he’s what started everything for the Spurs and the dynasty. He’s been there every step of the way so everything.”
“We’re all here waiting for when he comes back to us,” Spurs fan Jalen Sandifer said.
On Wednesday, the Spurs confirmed Popovich suffered a mild stroke earlier this month. The team said Popovich is in a rehabilitation program and is expected to make a full recovery.
“Coach Pop has been the leader of this organization for the last three decades, right?” Spurs GM Brian Wright said during a pregame news conference on Wednesday. “And we all have come across or know people that just have a different aura, a different presence about them. And clearly, he’s one of those people.”
Until Popovich returns, Mitch Johnson is leading the team.
“It hurts. We’re all a family with the Spurs,” Spurs fan Ian Gonzalez said.
Popovich has the most wins out of any coach in the NBA. Lifelong fans like Sue Grebenor said it’s hard to think of the Spurs without thinking of Popovich.
“He’s everything,” she said.
Wright stressed the importance of the team’s need to band together in Popovich’s absence.
“As I said, Pop has led this organization for three decades. We’d all be fools not to pay attention at some point, to watch (or) learn,” Wright said. “As I said before, it’s no (sic) one person’s job to fill Pop’s shoes in this moment. It’s a village. We’ve all bonded together. We’re all playing our roles in that part. We’ll continue to do that. It’s what he would want, and so that’s what we’re going to continue to do.”
A timeline of when Popovich will return to the sidelines is still unknown.
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