Gregg Popovich away from Spurs due to health issue

Veteran head coach Gregg Popovich will remain away from the Spurs after suffering a health issue before Saturday’s game vs. Minnesota, reports Shams Charania of ESPN. Assistant coach Mitch Johnson will continue to serve as the acting head coach during Popovich’s absence.

The Spurs confirmed the news, stating that Popovich isn’t traveling with the team on its current road trip to Los Angeles and Houston, via Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.

San Antonio will face the Clippers on Monday and the Rockets on Wednesday before returning home to host the Trail Blazers on Thursday. It’s not yet known whether Popovich will be able to return to the sidelines at that time or Johnson will continue to coach the team beyond Wednesday.

A league source tells Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News that Popovich is “OK” but “just needs rest.”

Popovich is the NBA’s all-time leader in head-coaching wins, with a 1,391-824 regular season record (.628). He’s also the league’s oldest active head coach by a significant margin — he’ll turn 76 in January.

Johnson led the Spurs to a victory over the Timberwolves on Saturday as the team’s acting head coach and said after the game that he would stay prepared in the event Popovich wasn’t able to return right away, per Orsborn.

"Mitch did a great job, man," Spurs point guard Chris Paul said following Saturday’s win, according to Charania. "I think our whole coaching staff (did). Things happen within this league all the time and just like with the players, it’s next man (up). So, shoutout to Mitch; he did a great job tonight."