Who is the new coach of the Spurs? He can take over Popovich. He saves the life of an NBA star

Next season, another familiar figure disappeared on the sidelines of the NBA. Greg Popovich, the old coach who has been in charge of the Spurs for nearly 30 years, finally decided to officially step down as the head coach of the Spurs in May because of a stroke. Since then, the last familiarity of the Spurs has also disappeared with the passage of time. He once used sharks to tease O'Neal on the sidelines, roared at the referee with disagreement, and Popovich, who always likes to tell some cold jokes at the press conference, officially withdrew from the NBA's historical stage. After Popovich stepped down, a name that made countless fans unfamiliar, became the new head coach of the Spurs. Mickey Johnson, the young coach born in 1986 and even two years younger than James, has what magic can capture Popovich's trust? Why is he called "Terron Lue Second"? In this article, let's explain in detail the youngest young coach in the NBA at present.

Mickey Johnson is a standard second-generation ball player. His father is John Johnson, who is 201 cm tall. He is the seventh overall pick in the first round in 1970. He played for four teams, including the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Portland Trail Blazers, the Houston Rockets and the Seattle Supersonics, for a total of 12 seasons, averaging 13 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists. He is a rare all-round forward in that era. He was selected as the All-Star twice at his peak and won the championship for the 1978-1979 season.

Thanks to the influence of his father, Mikey Mickie also looked forward to the NBA at the beginning, and she had a very hope of realizing her dream. She averaged 22 points and 8 assists per game in her senior year, and became a four-star high school student, and received a basketball scholarship from Stanford University. She was a college teammate with players such as Lopez and Fields.

Mickey showed his unique understanding of tactics in college. Lopez said that Mickey had at least a thousand basketball tactics in his head, so he was nicknamed "Conductor". He averaged nearly 6 assists per game in his four-year college career, but because of his lack of talent, he was only 190 cm tall, and his physical fitness was extremely average. He was weak on both ends of offense and defense, and he was eventually defeated in the 2009 draft. After

, Mickey also struggled. He played in the Development League and the European League for three years, but the ruthless reality shattered his dream. After being cut off for a row, his old father entrusted his relationship. In 2012, he found a job as a basketball coach for him at a high school in Seattle (Johnson and Mickey lived in Seattle). That year, Mickey was 26 years old.

It was also in this year that Mickey saved a future NBA star's basketball dream and life journey. The player is Dezhangtai Murray.

Time quickly returned to May this year. The Spurs held a press conference for Mickey. At that time, Murray had traveled thousands of miles (New Orleans is 872 kilometers away from San Antonio, which is not an exaggeration to say that it is not a thousand miles). He came to the press conference to send encouragement and blessings to Mickey. In the history of the NBA, there are examples of players attending press conferences of other teams, and they have also taken the stage. The only one that can be found is currently this.

On stage, Murray expressed his gratitude to Mickey and said, without Mickey, there would be no me today.

In fact, if you follow Murray, you will find that he always talks about Mickey and plays well. He says Mickey praises me. If he plays badly, he says Mickey wants to scold me. If he is traded, he says Mickey wishes me. Last year, a reporter asked about Mickey. Last year, a reporter asked about Mickey, and Murray's answer was -

"To me, Mickey means the whole world."

What did Mickey do to make Murray live for the rest of his life?

Their story is not an exaggeration to say that they can make an inspirational movie. The plot is - Note, I'm going to show my words -

One day in 2012, one day, a crescent moon bud hanging high above the sky scattered a hazy silver light on the earth. The slums in the southern suburbs of Seattle, the chaotic and dilapidated blocks, the street lights squeaked and gradually faded, and in the quiet air, a few harsh shouts and scolds suddenly came out, followed by the sound of sticks hitting each other, and then the screams broke through the sky.

The picture turned, and more than a dozen bad boys were naked with their upper body, holding their heads in hand, and squatting in the corner of the police station in turn. There was no trace of the arrogance and domineeringness half an hour ago. A police officer said,

"Are anyone injured? If anyone is injured, contact Seattle First People's Hospital!"

No one replied for a while.

Next, according to convention, every teenager who is called must step forward and sign the detention documents, and record the case one by one, and then contact his family to be bailed. One hour or two hours passed, and the number of people in the corner was getting smaller and smaller. In the end, there was only one teenager left in this big row.

This young man was about fifteen or sixteen years old, but his tender face had two fierce eyes hidden. He was a regular street fighter and was very likely to have participated in HB. Therefore, after entering the bureau every few days, his family yelled at the opposite side -

"Don't call me again. I'm really fed up. Let him fend for himself!" The sound on the phone was very loud, and everyone present could hear it clearly. With the "Didi" sound coming from the microphone, only the policeman's look surprised but not strange. As well, the boy's heart was even more anxious and full of reluctance and resentment, the clock on the wall was ticking, the pointer was spinning rapidly, and the horizon was already bright.

No one is released on bail, which means you will be sent to prison next.

After a long silence, the policeman cast a pity look at the boy. This feeling of being given to others made the boy feel at a loss. The policeman asked him if you have any other immediate relatives. The boy shook his head. The policeman thought for a moment and asked again, "The side department is OK." The boy still shook his head, and then seemed to remember something and said, "I have a distant uncle."

However, the boy's eyes quickly dimmed, and he murmured, "However, he seems to be not in Seattle recently."

"It doesn't matter, you can delegate someone else."

Only half an hour later, the boy was notified that he could be released on bail. The person who came to pick him up was entrusted by him, paid $1,500 bail, and waited outside the door to pick him up home.

At this time, the fish belly in the sky pierced the mountains, and the first ray of light from the rising sun spread on the boy's face full of touching and guilt, and a tear fell into his eyes. At this time, he had only one belief in his heart. I want to be a good person - BGM sounded -

That night, the boy did not go back to his home, but came to his friend's house for a night.

The uncle's friend is Mickey Johnson, and the boy is Dezhangtai Murray.

——End—

Dear brothers, I am good at language and writing skills...

Subsequel:

As a basketball coach, Mickey soon discovered Murray's basketball talent. He soon met Murray's parents and expressed his request to train Murray. Murray's parents wanted someone to take care of his son, and agreed without thinking. So Mickey forced Murray to break off relations with those gangsters, put all his thoughts on basketball, and train Murray with almost harsh requirements.

How harsh is it?

According to Murray afterwards, he even had to ask Mickey for leave when going to the bathroom. Once, Murray couldn't help but go out to mess around. Half an hour later, he received a call from the local police station, which immediately scared Murray to death and had to go back obediently. Mickey said, if you don't train well, I will send you back!

Under the training of Mickey, a player who is almost in contact with the NBA floor, Murray made great progress. After graduating from high school, he entered the University of Washington to play and averaged 16 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals per game. He is the team's scoring champion and the rookie assist king in the school history. Then Murray announced his participation in the 2016 draft.

Before the draft, various media commented on the rookies running for the election as an inherent process. Among them, Murray was surprisingly consistent in his evaluation. It is generally believed that Murray has the strength of a lottery, but his resume before college was too unbearable. Murray had a record in the bureau since he was 11 years old, and he went back and forth 20 times. He followed the house when he entered the bureau. He also suspected that he had an HB background. Therefore, his professional qualities and whether he could integrate into the locker room were doubtful. Speaking people, that is, he suspected that Murray was a thorn. A few days before the draft, Murray almost collapsed. He felt that there was nothing hope in the NBA. While holding Mickey, he cried bitterly, and said-

"They don't believe me, no one believes me."

Mickey said firmly, "I believe in you."

Finally, in the 2016 draft, Murray was selected by the Spurs at the 29th pick in the first round. In fact, Murray was selected at the 29th pick, which also contributed to Mickey's contribution.

In 2014, Mickey was invited to become an assistant coach at the University of Portland. In 2016, he was discovered by Popovich, who was keen on the keen eye and appointed him as the assistant coach of the Spurs' subordinate team Austin Spurs. It was in this year that Mickey never tires of recommending Murray to Popovich and RC Horford.

At first, Popovich refused because the old man disliked the thorns the most. He would rather have those mediocre but obedient players. Mickey made a 30-page scout report for Murray and placed it on Popovich's desk. But Popovich said he had never opened it because he didn't like reading words. He only believed in the players standing on the court. Mickey kept begging Popovich to give Murray a chance to try out, but he couldn't resist the old man's ears and agreed.

PS: Mr. Popo has a common problem with soft ears. If it weren't for this problem, Parker and Ginobili would not have worn the Spurs jersey. However, the recommended two of them at that time was Popovich's close friend and junior brother RC Buford. This paragraph has been written before. If you are interested, you can search on the homepage.

Two days before the trial for the Spurs, Murray, who had already developed a habit, still looked for Murray to train, but Murray refused. He said -

"You should go the next way."

This trial directly knocked the NBA door for Murray. He beat Spurs celebrity Tony Parker in training camp (when the latter may let go, because Parker is famous for not loving training in the Spurs, and is lazy on the training ground...)

What did you find from the story of Murray and Murray?

That's right, that's Mickey's excellent communication skills, which is also the biggest magic weapon for him to take over Popovich's role in him, beyond the tactical level.

No one in the Spurs players did not believe that Mickey was climbing up from the bottom, including Vanbanyama. Mickey was meticulous about Vanbanyama's "care" for Vanbanyama. According to Vanbanyama, even he ate a few eggs in the morning and saw Ipad Mickey last night. At the beginning, Vanbanyama was disgusted, but soon he was impressed by Mickey's excellent communication art. Mickey's response was-

"Brother, if you can't play well, then you can't play well, I'll be laid off.. ”

is a little self-deprecating and joking, which can further bring the distance between these young people. Besides, Mickey is not very old and can understand the ideas and thinking of young people. Even Mickey's thoughts are crazy than young people. He once wanted to use dye to make the locker room colorful. His words were to enhance the players' sense of space, but Popovich voted to veto him, and said, "What a fancy thing, it makes it look like a nightclub..."

However, some of Mickey's proposals have also been approved by Popovich. For example, because the Spurs are mostly young people over the years, Popovich wants to introduce a veteran in the locker room, but Mickey disagrees. He said, "I am a veteran if you want to make a veteran."

For example, in command, the most criticized thing is that he often gets used to letting Wenban play center, which is obviously very different from the training path of Wenban. Popovich At first, I didn't understand it. Mickey asked back, "Do Wenban like playing center?" The answer I got was of course not. Mickey said it was not amazing. Then he would be able to stop talking. Then he would be transferred out.

After being tempered by the center position, Wenban has made a qualitative improvement in assisting defense and rebounding.

Because of Mickey's excellent communication skills, many people call him "Tyron Lu Second", abbreviated as "Lu Er", I mean Lu Lu The director was caught in the shooting for no reason... At the end of the article, let's briefly review the resume -

Mickey led the Austin Spurs to win the Development League championship in 2018. Interestingly, Parker was also deported twice by Popovich due to injury. He played 6 games in total, and he also won a Development League championship ring with the team. The MVP in the finals at that time was not Parker, but our CBA Old acquaintance Nick Johnson.

In September 2019, Mickey replaced former assistant coach Tim Duncan, who didn't want to do things but just wanted to have sex, and officially became the assistant coach of the Spurs, studying under Popovich. In 2020, Mickey became the chief assistant coach of Popovich's assistant coach team. On May 15, 2021, Popovich attended Duncan's Hall of Fame ceremony. Mickey coached his first NBA game, but the result was unsatisfactory, 103:140 Lose to the Suns.

2021 Summer United, Mickey was the head coach of the Spurs Summer United, who was very good at commanding the youth team and was praised by Popovich. In March 2023, Popovich missed the first stroke, Mickey became the interim coach for the second time. On November 2, 2024, Spurs VS Timberwolves, half an hour before the start of the game, Mickey was notified that Popovich had a relapse in stroke and could not coach, and Mickey became the interim coach for the third time Until now, the official stamp was officially launched in May 2025.

Last season, Mickey commanded the Spurs as an acting head coach for almost the entire season. The 32-45-loss record is still OK for a new coach. The 34-48-loss of the entire season is the best result of the Spurs since the last time they entered the playoffs in 2019.

Of course, there are still problems, such as not being able to grasp the rhythm, some timeouts are called There is no reason. There is a dispute on the court. Mickey does not put enough pressure on the referee, and his tactics are quite chaotic (this is understandable. After all, the Spurs' task in the past two or three years is to practice the literary class, so that the literary class can play casually). I believe that with the accumulation of game experience, Mickey's performance will get better and better, just as he said at the press conference for the Spurs head coach -

"The last knock that smashed the stone was just the result of hundreds of knocks before. ”

Okay, let's end this article. I wonder how the top brothers on the list view this new Spurs coach? Let's discuss it together in the comment area. Every morning at 8:00, Fireworks brings the freshest NBA story. Click on the following and likes to let Fireworks' articles be pushed to you as soon as possible. It will be updated regularly at 8:00 in the morning, don't miss it!