When the San Antonio Spurs took on the Los Angeles Lakers in their 123-92 loss on Sunday, they did so without longtime head coach Gregg Popovich on the bench. The team stated that he was unable to coach due to an illness.
Assistant coach Brett Brown took charge for the night to fill Popovich's place. He didn't find out about having to be the head coach until "20 seconds" before the team tipped off.
“I didn’t know about it until 20 seconds before the game was going to be played,” Brown said.
Popovich, 73, is said to be fine. Brown relayed that information to reporters after the game, but admitted that he didn't have much for details about the situation. He was examined by doctors in the locker room and didn't leave Crypto.com Arena during the game.
"At this stage, I don't have a lot of details," Brown said in the post-game availability. "The doctors have checked him out, and we've been advised that he's fine."
The Spurs players were surprised that Popovich was unable to coach given his competitive nature. They knew it had to have been something that genuinely made him unable to do so.
“Everybody knows Pop is very competitive,” Spurs center Gorgui Dieng said. “When they told us he wasn’t coming out, it was surprising.”
Brown expressed that Popovich has "amazing endurance" and his competitiveness is clear — raising concerns when there is an instance that prevents him from being able to coach due to illness
“He has such amazing endurance,” Brown said. “He is such an amazing competitor. When something like that happens, you’re concerned.”
The Spurs return to action on Wednesday when they take on the New Orleans Pelicans at the AT&T Center in San Antonio.
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