{
  "id": 11487145,
  "title": "Mitch Johnson opens up about addition of Billy Donovan to Spurs coaching staff",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/02/mitch-johnson-opens-up-about-addition-of-billy-donovan-to-spurs",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-10-02T17:13:16.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Yahoo Sports",
    "slug": "yahoo-sports",
    "url": "https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/mitch-johnson-opens-addition-billy-171316868.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "San Antonio Spurs coach Mitch Johnson expressed his excitement about the addition of former NBA head coach Billy Donovan to his coaching staff. Johnson, 39, acknowledged that Donovan's extensive experience and hard work ethic would be invaluable as the Spurs aim for a championship. The Spurs hired Donovan to replace Sean Sweeney, who left the team to become head coach of the Orlando Magic. Donovan's coaching background includes 11 seasons as a head coach, leading teams such as the Chicago Bulls and Oklahoma City Thunder. He guided the Florida Gators to two national championships in 2006 and 2007, and reached the 2016 Western Conference finals with Oklahoma City. Johnson expressed his belief that Donovan would greatly benefit the team, especially in light of some of the criticisms he faced during the postseason.",
  "summary": "The 39-year-old head coach spoke publicly for the first time this week about having the Hall of Famer as an assistant.",
  "key_points": [
    "Mitch Johnson excited about Billy Donovan joining Spurs coaching staff.",
    "Donovan brings 11 years of head coaching experience to Spurs.",
    "Johnson confident Donovan will improve team's championship chances."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}