A foreshadowing for leading some of the elite NBA players in today’s game, some of Johnson’s prominent teammates at Stanford included Brook Lopez, Robin Lopez and Landry Fields – three players that found considerable success in the Association.
“Mitch was a phenomenal Stanford teammate,” said Fields. “He took me and our other freshmen under his wing as it was clear he was the leader of our team even as he was entering his sophomore year. I could tell he had a basketball IQ that was incredibly high and he always occurred to me as curious to learn more. He is great to be around as a human and that is evident in how he builds relationships with players. I am a big fan of Mitch J. and excited for the opportunity before him!"
Johnson finished his career with a pair of Pac-10 honors, as an honorable mention all-league selection in 2008 and an honorable mention all-freshman selection in 2006. After a brief professional career that included stops with the Tulsa 66ers in the NBA Development League and VEF Riga in Latvia, Johnson got his first full-time coaching job in 2015 as an assistant at Portland, where Eric Reveno, who had helped recruit him to Stanford and coached him for one season, was the head coach.
"When I got the sense Mitch wanted to go into coaching, I could not hire him fast enough at Portland,” said Reveno. “He had always shown signs of the ability to be a great coach and it was just a matter of him making the leap into the profession. Given his intelligence, work ethic and ability to relate to everyone, it was clear he would be successful in whatever he chose.”
Following one season with the Pilots, Johnson got his start in the Spurs organization in 2016 with the Austin Spurs, where he spent three seasons and won the 2018 NBA G-League championship as an assistant coach. Gregg Popovich hired Johnson to the San Antonion Spurs staff as an assistant coach in 2019, and after five seasons under his leadership, Johnson took over for the legendary coach as an interim head coach in 2024-25 before being handed the permanent reins in 2025.
“It is nice to see a person like him get an opportunity to impact people’s lives,” continued Trent Johnson. “The leaders in San Antonio don’t make mistakes on people’s character, and that speaks to what Mitch is all about.”
In his first full season as the organization’s permanent head coach, and second overall, Johnson led the Spurs to a 62-20 record and first place mark in the NBA’s Southwest Division. Mentoring the young stars the organization has acquired, led by NBA Defensive Player of the Year Victor Wembanyama, Johnson’s Spurs have defeated the Portland Trail Blazers, Minnesota Timberwolves and Oklahoma City Thunder to reach the NBA Finals, which begin June 3.
Johnson is the first Stanford alumni to serve as a head coach in the NBA Finals.
Interviewed in 2023 by Tom Osborne of the San Antonio Express-News, as the Spurs were in the Bay Area to face the Golden State Warriors, Mitch Johnson reflected on his time at Stanford.
“I would say the decision to go there ended up being maybe the most underrated decision I have ever made in terms of how good it was for me. It’s just a place that breeds excellence. You go to school and the professors are extraordinary, athletes are great, students are starting companies. It makes you feel like you have got to do something at a high level."
Something like… coach in the NBA Finals.
