Spurs’ Mitch Johnson to coach in All-Star Game
San Antonio Spurs coach Mitch Johnson and his staff will coach one of the three teams in the All-Star Game, the NBA announced on Sunday night.
The Spurs (33-16) trail only Oklahoma City (39-11) in the Western Conference standings at the Feb. 1 cutoff date, but Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault is not eligible because he coached in the 2025 All-Star Game.
The All-Star Game, scheduled for Feb. 15 in Inglewood, Calif., will feature a new format with two teams of U.S. players and one "World" team made up of international players. They will play a round-robin tournament of 12-minute games, after which the teams with the best records will play for the championship.
The rosters will be revealed on Tuesday, with each featuring eight players.
Johnson, 39, began in the Spurs organization as an NBA G League assistant coach in 2016.
He was an assistant coach with the Spurs for six seasons, serving as the acting head coach for the final 77 games of the 2024-25 campaign -- going 32-45 -- after Gregg Popovich suffered a stroke. Popovich stepped down in May 2025 to transition to solely be the team's president of basketball operations and Johnson was promoted.
He is the second San Antonio coach to be a head coach in the All-Star Game, joining Popovich. He also was selected the Western Conference Head Coach of the Month for December.