Mitch Johnson walked into Brian Wright’s office in late April of last year and came out as the next coach of the San Antonio Spurs. Now, less than a year into the job, the 39-year-old is trying to keep the franchise’s deepest playoff run since 2017 alive.
San Antonio trails the Oklahoma City Thunder 3-2 in the Western Conference finals after a 127-114 loss in Game 5 on Tuesday, setting up a win-or-go-home game at home tonight. Johnson said after the loss that beating a team of this caliber in its own building with these stakes would require his team to be a lot better if it wanted a chance.
The result gives weight to how quickly Johnson has moved from caretaker to centerpiece. He officially became the 19th head coach in Spurs history after Gregg Popovich, the winningest coach in NBA history, stepped aside from a bench he had commanded for decades. Popovich guided San Antonio to five NBA championships and remains the only coach in franchise history to take the team to the Finals.
Wright said the handoff was emotional for everyone in the room when Johnson learned he had the job. “We sat in the room with him and gave him the good news,” Wright said, adding that the transition was “a happy emotional” one and “celebratory emotional” as well. He also called Johnson “incredibly poised,” a trait that has mattered as the Spurs have climbed back toward relevance after missing the NBA playoffs from 2019 through 2025 following 22 consecutive postseason appearances that began in 1998.
That return has come with a roster built around Victor Wembanyama, the 7-foot-4 All-Star center, De’Aaron Fox, the two-time NBA All-Star, Stephon Castle, the 2025 NBA Rookie of the Year, and heralded rookie Dylan Harper. Johnson took the group to a 62-20 regular-season record in his first season and into the Western Conference finals, where San Antonio is now one win from forcing a longer run than many expected when the season began.
The friction point is obvious: the Spurs have surged, but they are still one loss from going home. Johnson was a finalist for the 2026 NBA Coach of the Year, yet the next 48 minutes may say as much about the franchise’s present as any award vote ever could.
