A first-time coach is joining the Spurs.
Spurs add former player with 50-point career high/NBA champion with Heat to coaching staff originally appeared on The Sporting News
After experiencing increased health issues this past season, Gregg Popovich decided to step down from his position as the Spurs' head coach.
Popovich was the longest tenured coach with a single team in NBA history, coaching the Spurs for 29 years straight.
Spurs' assistant coach Mitch Johnson, who was an assistant with the team from 2019 until this past season, took over as interim head coach for the rest of the 2024-25 season. He was later officially given a full-time head coach position moving forward after Popovich stepped down.
San Antonio and Johnson had a full offseason this summer to prepare for next season. With the official change being made at the head coach slot, more decisions were made on who would be a part of the rest of the coaching staff next season.
Spurs name former NBA champion to assistant coach position
On Monday, the Spurs announced that Rashard Lewis would be among several people hired to the Spurs' staff for next season (via Paul Garcia).
Lewis is a former NBA player who played 16 seasons in the NBA.
MORE: Former NBA champion with Spurs announces retirement
He played for the SuperSonics for nine seasons, being named an all-star once and averaging over 16.5 points in six out of his nine seasons there.
He then played three and a half seasons with the Magic, being named an all-star in the 2008-09 season, the same season he led the NBA in three-pointers made (2.8).
Towards the end of his career, he played two seasons with the Wizards before finishing it off with two seasons with the Heat.
Ironically, he was a part of the 2012-13 Heat team that beat the Spurs in the NBA Finals. He'll now join a Spurs team that was a rival of his during his playing days, to become one of their next assistant coaches.
Through 16 seasons and 1,049 regular-season games played, Lewis averaged 14.9 points, 5.2 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.1 steals.
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