Having increased the San Antonio Spurs’ win total by 28, few expected Mitch Johnson’s second year to be this successful. Taking over from the legendary Gregg Popovich, Johnson has quickly put together what Pop was building over the years. However, despite shocking success, Johnson is still considered an underdog in the race.<\/p>\n
Currently considered the frontrunner<\/a>, J.B Bickerstaff has transformed what was the worst team in the East two years ago. The Detroit Pistons were miserable. After giving Monty Williams a hefty contract, they lost 28 games in a row. That had them tied for worst losing streak in NBA history. Even worse, it wasn’t injuries but uninspired play that led them to their awful record. This naturally led to doubts about players like Cade Cunningham<\/a> and Jalen Duren<\/a>.<\/p>\n Now, the Pistons have one more game and sit at 59 wins. Reaching 60 wins only two years after being one of the worst teams of all time is a good sign. Even if they lose, 59 is a pretty good number. Bickerstaff deserves all the credit for creating a defensive juggernaut with mostly the same roster as 2023-24.<\/p>\n But another team was terrible two years ago. The ’23-24 Spurs had just 22 wins. Not to mention, they had the same record the year before. And this was after drafting Victor Wembanyama<\/a>, the greatest prospect ever. The year after, the greatest coach of all time stepped down — and Johnson stepped up.<\/p>\n After coaching the Austin Spurs and becoming an assistant, he was the logical frontrunner to succeed Pop. But with so many head coaches coming from the Spurs’ lineage of assistants, some were upset. However, Johnson had the same steady hand Popovich had and quickly improved the Spurs’ play. Now, his team has already reached 60 wins.<\/p>\n Having a better record than the Pistons and a similar turnaround should put Johnson in front, right? In fact, his team’s turnaround is actually better from last season to this one. The Pistons actually made the playoffs last year. It seems like voters will choose Bickerstaff to make up for him not winning then. Transforming one of the worst teams ever to a playoff team is historic. However, so were the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2024-25, hence why their coach won.<\/a><\/p>\n The Spurs went undefeated in the month that made them<\/a>. Not dropping a single game in February, they separated themselves from the pack. This includes a win over the Pistons in Detroit. This leap started from the team’s chemistry and incredible defense. Rookies Dylan Harper<\/a> and Carter Bryant<\/a> were impressive as well. Both are among the best defensive rookies, and Harper has been shooting the lights out in 2026.<\/p>\n For young teams, consistency is always in question. The Spurs haven’t been the same since this stretch. With or without Wembanyama, the losses have been rare. Johnson’s coaching has led this team to have excellent chemistry and, more importantly, calm in the clutch. Unlike the authoritarian aura of Popovich, with viral outburst, Johnson’s calm demeanor mirrors his team late in games.<\/p>\n With the second-best record in the league, and two wins against the league-leading Pistons, Johnson’s team is a winning machine. In terms of pure growth, the Spurs have gained the most. Few contenders have stood up to them so far. And Johnson has done all of this without scandals or viral comments. Quietly, with a resting smirk, Johnson has proved his is top of the league in coaching.<\/p>\n \u00a9 Scott Wachter-Imagn Images<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Having increased the San Antonio Spurs’ win total by 28, few expected Mitch Johnson’s second year to be this successful. Taking over from the legendary Gregg Popovich, Johnson has quickly put together what Pop was building over the years. However, despite shocking success, Johnson is still considered an underdog in the race. Mitch Johnson Should […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5757,"featured_media":188773,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,62,34],"tags":[50119,49668,204,49128,49818,4669],"class_list":["post-188732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-nba","category-spurs","tag-carter-bryant","tag-dylan-harper","tag-gregg-popovich","tag-jb-bickerstaff","tag-mitch-johnson","tag-victor-wembanyama"],"modified_by":"Jordan Pagkalinawan","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188732","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5757"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=188732"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188732\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":188781,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188732\/revisions\/188781"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/188773"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=188732"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=188732"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=188732"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Dominant When It Matters Most<\/h3>\n
The Last Word<\/h3>\n