NBA: Spurs' Mitch Johnson to coach in All-Star Game

San Antonio Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson and his staff will lead one of the three teams in the 2026 NBA All-Star Game, the league announced Sunday night.

The Spurs (33-16) sit second in the Western Conference standings at the Feb. 1 cutoff, behind only the Oklahoma City Thunder (39-11). Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault is ineligible, as he coached in the 2025 All-Star Game.

This year’s All-Star Game, set for Feb. 15 in Inglewood, California, will feature a new format. Two teams will consist of U.S. players, while a “World” team will be made up of international stars. The three teams will play a round-robin tournament of 12-minute games. The teams with the best records will then face off for the championship.

Rosters will be revealed Tuesday, with each team featuring eight players.

Johnson, 39, joined the Spurs organization in 2016 as an NBA G League assistant coach. He later spent six seasons as a Spurs assistant and served as acting head coach for the final 77 games of the 2024-25 season, compiling a 32-45 record after Gregg Popovich suffered a stroke. Popovich stepped down in May 2025 to focus solely on his role as the team’s president of basketball operations, and Johnson was promoted to head coach.

He becomes only the second Spurs coach to lead a team in the All-Star Game, joining Popovich. Johnson was also named Western Conference Head Coach of the Month for December.

—Field Level Media/Reuters