Victor Wembanyama, Chris Paul discuss Gregg Popovich's sudden health issues

The San Antonio Spurs are dealing with a health situation to legendary team head coach Gregg Popovich. Well-wishes for Popovich's health are coming in from around the NBA and the sports world. During media appearances over the last two days, talented Spurs duo Victor Wembanyama and Chris Paul shared their thoughts on Popovich's health.

Wembanyama expressed optimism that Popovich would return sooner than expected.

“Of course, we all miss him, we hope he’s alright. We know he’s going to come back. We know he’s going to come back earlier than he probably should, but that’s Pop.”

Chris Paul had a lot more to say about Popovich, as the 20-year veteran has competed against the coach in his heyday and is now getting to play under him. Paul sent a wonderful message highlighting Popovich's importance to the NBA and his coaching prowess. 

“I haven’t [had a chance to speak with him yet]. I haven’t. I don’t think any of the guys on the team have. Obviously, we wanted to, but we’re trying to give him his space and make sure we can control what we can control. I've only been on the team for a few months now, but I've paid attention to him my entire career.”

“He's one of the best at putting everything into perspective. He’s so selfless and makes sure we understand how privileged we are to play this game and to be in the NBA. But he’d be the first person to tell you not to worry about him and to go out and do what we do." 

"Of course, everyone on the team, staff, everybody definitely misses him because he’s Pop, you know? There’s a feeling when he’s in the room that just comforts everybody,”

The Spurs are 3-4 to start the 2024-25 season, looking like a far more competitive version of the squad we saw last season. They saw emerging forward Jeremy Sochan be ruled out with a thumb injury to go along with their coaching vacuum, creating a lot of obstacles to overcome as the team hopes to remain Playoff competitive.

The Spurs named Mitch Johnson as the interim coach, who got off to a losing start with the Spurs' 104-113 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers in the Intuit Dome.

The Spurs Are Seriously Concerned About Gregg Popovich

Popovich's health was suddenly affected over the weekend which required the 75-year-old coach to receive immediate medical attention. Shams Charania of ESPN broke the story down and what this means for the franchise and interim coach Mitch Johnson.

"I'm told that it was a serious health issue that the Spurs dealt with and Gregg Popovich health with over the weekend. It was a situation on Saturday night, pregame, and Gregg Popovich needed medical attention in San Antonio. It is still uncertain when he is going to make it back on the sidelines for this team."

"There is a great level of concern around the situation. For the Spurs, for Gregg Popovich, in the meantime, assistant coach Mitch Johnson has stepped in as the acting interim head coach. He's a rising head coach in this league... This is something that the Spurs are very well regarded with, they know how important he is, how valuable he is, and he will be at the helm for the foreseeable future."

Popovich has led the Spurs as head coach since 1996, comfortably holding the spot as the longest-tenured coach in the NBA and all other American sports leagues. He won't be on the sideline for their road clash against Texas rivals, the Houston Rockets on Wednesday.