San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich was rushed to hospital on Tuesday night after a medical emergency at a steakhouse in the city.
Worrying footage has emerged via TMZ of the 76-year-old, who was taken ill earlier this year, on a stretcher being placed into an ambulance after fainting.
Popovich had a stroke in early November and is on indefinite leave from his team – he confirmed in February that he will not coach them for the remainder of the season.
But his long-term future has now been placed into further doubt after his recent health scare.
TMZ says Popovich is still recovering from November’s stroke but he was said to be alert and talking when he was placed into the ambulance on Tuesday night. He had apparenly been at the restaurant for around two hours.
The Spurs, who missed the NBA playoffs that start on Saturday, have not yet commented on the incident. But ESPN reported later on Friday that Popovich is now back at home and ‘fine’.
Gregg Popovich, 76, was rushed to hospital on Tuesday night in a medical emergency
Popovich is one of the NBA’s true legends – he has more wins as a coach than anyone else
Popovich, who has more wins than any other coach in the history of the NBA, led Team USA to Olympic gold at the 2020 Tokyo games.
He’s a five-time NBA champion with the Spurs, where he has been the head coach since 1996.
In his absecne from the Spurs this year, Popovich has been replaced by his assistant, Mitch Johnson.
The Spurs ended the season with a 34-48 record, leaving them 13th in the standings for the Western Conference.
Their hopes of making the playoffs were disrupted further when star player Victor Wembanyama was ruled out for the season in February with deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder.
It was reported at the time that the Spurs organization had no concerns over the 7ft 3 21-year-old Wembanyama’s long-term health.
But it now remains to be seen if Popovich considers himself well enough to return for the Spurs next season.
Popovich’s late February statement announcing his continued absence from the Spurs said: ‘I’ve decided to not return to the sidelines this season.
The Spurs have also been without their star man Victor Wembanyama since February
It remains to be seen if Popovich, 76, will return to coach the Spurs next season in the NBA
‘Mitch Johnson and his staff have done a wonderful job and the resolve and professionalism the players have shown, sticking together during a challenging season, has been outstanding.
‘I will continue to focus on my health with the hope that I can return to coaching in the future.’
As well as winning more NBA games than anyone else in the business, he has won the second-most titles of any coach in the league’s existence, tied with Pat Riley with five and behind Phil Jackson, who has 11.
Popovich attended the Air Force Academy, where he played as a guard for four seasons before serving in active duty for five years touring the world as a player on the US Armed Forces Basketball Team.
After his playing days were done, Popovich returned to Colorado Springs to serve as an assistant coach at Air Force.
He would go on to serve two stints as the head coach at Division III Pomona-Pitzer College in California from 1979-1986 and from 1987-88 – with a brief stop as an assistant at college basketball blue blood Kansas in between.
Popovich served two stints as an NBA assistant coach (with the Spurs from 1998-92 and the Golden State Warriors from 1992-94) before taking his first – and only – head coaching job in San Antonio in 1996.
