LeBron James had San Antonio on his mind Wednesday night, but not because the Lakers face the Spurs on Friday.
He was thinking of something else — or, rather, someone else.
The Spurs revealed earlier Wednesday that longtime coach Gregg Popovich suffered a mild stroke Nov. 2 at the team’s arena in the hours before a game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. He started a rehabilitation program, the Spurs said, and is expected to make a full recovery.
The game against the Lakers on Friday will be the eighth in which assistant coach Mitch Johnson will be filling in while Popovich recovers. It also opens the Lakers’ defense of their NBA Cup in-season tournament championship — something James admitted Wednesday he hadn’t even thought about before a reporter brought it up.
“For me personally, there’s much bigger news out of San Antonio right now and that’s my dear friend Coach Pop,” James said after the Lakers’ 128-123 win over the Memphis Grizzlies. “I’ll be thinking heavily about him as I travel there tomorrow [for] the game on Friday. And I’m wishing him the best of health, and hopefully I see him soon. It doesn’t even have to be on the sidelines. That’s the most important for me.”
The two go way back. Popovich was an assistant coach when a 19-year-old James was a player on the U.S. men’s basketball team that won bronze at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.
Their teams have met in the NBA Finals three times. Popovich’s Spurs beat James’ Cleveland Cavaliers in 2007, James and the Miami Heat defeated San Antonio in 2013, and Popovich and the Spurs avenged that loss to the Heat in 2014.
In 2018, James became emotional during a TV interview while discussing the recent death of Popovich’s wife, Erin.
“I love Pop,” James said. “That’s such a tragedy. My best wishes go out to Pop and his family. That’s devastating news. It’s a lot. The NBA family, we all stick together. I know we compete every night, but something like this happens, it puts everything in perspective.”
In February, following his 43rd regular-season game against the Spurs, James couldn’t help but throw in a shout-out to Popovich when asked about young San Antonio star Victor Wembanyama.
“He’s special,” James said, “and he has an unbelievable coach that’s going to make sure that he does things the right way.”