Why is it him to succeed Popovich? He is better than Uduka and Cole?

On May 6, 2025, Popovich, who had not appeared after half a year, returned to San Antonio and announced that he would step down as head coach for 29 years. He retreated behind the scenes due to physical reasons and named Mickey Johnson as his successor.

fans were already discussing the issue of Popovich's successor 10 years ago, and there were many successors:

Spurs fans' favorite team history number Tim Duncan, once studied with Popovich as an assistant coach, but he ran away early, without the heart to be a coach.

Uduka, who is qualified and capable, is most suitable for successor Popovich, but he is too capable and has been poached before Popovich retires.

And another has the ability and means to succeed Popovich's gold medal coach Messina, who also returns to the European League's comfort zone in 2019.

Although there has been a temporary foundation for leading the team this season, both Spurs fans and other melon-eating crowds are actually not very satisfied with Mickey Johnson's choice.

After all, whether it is in terms of coaching results or qualifications, Mickey Johnson, who leads the lottery area, cannot compare with other "successors". Especially in the Spurs coaching team, there are also veteran qualifications like Brent Brown who has led a strong team and proved his abilities.

So, why is Mickey?

At this moment of change between old and new, another wise American old man also chose his successor.

In 2014, someone asked Buffett, "Will you choose a successor among Greg Abel and Ajit Jain?" His answer is certain.

At the shareholders' meeting that just ended, Buffett announced that Greg Abel would take over the huge business empire of Berkshire Hathaway, not Ajit Jain.

There are many different considerations for Buffett to make this decision, but age may be an important indicator, which made Lao Ba choose Greg Abel, 62, rather than Ajit Jain, 74.

Choose a successor never easy. Greg Abel joined Berkshire in 1999, and Baba visited him for 26 years. Popovich's trust in Mickey Johnson is not a joke, and his time to inspect this successor is no shorter than other choices.

When Mitch Johnson joined the Austin Spurs in 2016, he had noticed the 30-year-old and invited him to learn from himself when there was no game in the Development League.

Popovich said, "I have to find someone who fully meets the needs of the team." He spent 9 years deciding on Mickey Johnson, indicating that the old man has measured the interests of all parties. After considering and deliberating, Mickey Johnson is the most suitable candidate to lead the Spurs into the next stage.

So in many things, we cannot only focus on record and qualifications. Or, these two things are not the focus of Popovich's choice of successor.

The Spurs, which have started the next team building cycle, are no longer GDP and veteran mature men. Except for Paul, Barnes and Biyongbo, 32, the rest of the players are young men in their early 20s. Such a young team requires the coach to have the ability to establish relationships with players.

And that's what Mickey Johnson is good at.

"We all respect him"

Harrison Barnes, Black Wesley, Siddy Sissoko, and Zach Collins, who was traded to the Bulls, all mentioned one thing-Mickey Johnson knows how to communicate with players, and they like to play under him.

Although Mitch Johnson, who served as the main point guard at Stanford and played professional basketball for three years, did not successfully enter the NBA like Lopez and Landry Fields, he knew very well what the players were thinking.

Moreover, he devotes and cares to each player the same, whether he is the No. 1 pick or a two-way contract.

Blake Wesley, who entered his third season of his career this year, is very grateful to Mitch Johnson for his guidance. "In my 3 years here, he has really helped me a lot and taught me how to meet the standards of being able to play in defense and decision-making."

Mickey Johnson will personally play as a sparring coach for the players. He will do this when he is an assistant coach, and he will not give up this habit when he is an acting coach. Zach Collins said Mickey Johnson always insisted on staying in the training hall. He will personally demonstrate to the rookie defenders how to play pick-and-roll with Wenban Yama, and tell them what kind of passes to make the 2.21-meter-24-meter-long big man feel comfortable to catch.

Casel, who just won the Best Rookie, is also very grateful to Mickey Johnson for giving him some very useful details during the timeout.

Castle: Why is the best rookie?

Mickey Johnson has actually made considerable achievements in player development. Derek White, who helped the Celtics win the championship last year as a key player, grew from a 29-pick of 3.2 points to a 14+5 championship main force, which was led by Mitch Johnson in daily training.

Another 29th pick of the Spurs, Jongtae Mory, came to San Antonio in order to witness the moment Mickey Johnson officially took office. Morrie is the one who grew up watching Mickey Johnson grow up. They are all from Seattle. In 2022, when Morrie grew up to be an All-Star, Mickey Johnson's support on every training day is inseparable from.

On March 20, 2025, Sandro Mamuklashvili scored 34 points in 19 minutes, setting the highest score record among players with less than 20 minutes of playing time in the NBA. But after this highlight game, he did not get any more opportunities to perform and was still pressed on the bench by Mickey Johnson from time to time.

However, Mamu did not complain, and he even maintained a high evaluation of Mickey Johnson.

"It is great to have a leader who understands that you will make occasional mistakes and will not punish you for this."

The first in history with 34 points in 19 minutes, who is he?

Everyone says Mickey Johnson is not worthy of this position, but the two main point guards of the Spurs have different opinions. Both Paul and Fox agreed that Mitch Johnson handled the sudden chaos of the Spurs this season.

On the first day after Fox was traded to the Spurs, Mickey Johnson held a small meeting with him alone to explain to him the situation of the team, his plans, and where the team will go in the future.

This conversation left a deep impression on Fox, and he also affirmed the head coach who will coach him for a long time in the future.

"Once the head coach's position changes happen, the locker room atmosphere and team performance will take a sharp turn, but I think Mickey has done a good job in maintaining solidarity and locker room morale."

"It's hard to maintain unity this season in such a young team. Secondly, it's even harder when the real head coach is not there."

" And I think everyone respects Mickey."

"I make sure the Spurs culture will not change"

34 wins and 48 losses, if the results of work are measured by the results, then Mickey Johnson's performance as acting coach is very average.

This is indeed a problem with him as the head coach. He has to learn how to coordinate the overall situation like Popovich, rather than just establishing good relationships with the players.

But integrating the coaching staff, improving the tactical system as the players evolve, and improving the level of on-site command all require time to ferment.

And the Spurs' board of directors and Popovich chose to give him time to polish it, perhaps because he saw something more underlying than simple coaching.

Mickey Johnson said after taking office: "The core concept of Spurs culture - doing things in the right way, respecting long-termism, and always welcomes the return of celebrities - these things will not change."

This is probably why the Spurs chose Mickey Johnson as the torchbearer. When the new team building cycle without GDP and without Popovich is started, they need someone to grasp the steering wheel and keep the team from deviating from their hopes, and continue to move forward with the "right posture" in the 10, 20, and even longer futures.