New San Antonio mural honors Spurs coach Gregg Popovich as he recovers from a stroke

With the Spurs’ Gregg Popovich still sidelined a month after suffering a what the team called a “mild stroke,” two San Antonio artists have created a mural honoring the coach’s legacy and impact on the Alamo City.

Muralist Mikey Sanchez and shoe designer J.C.Art created a black-and-white mural featuring both a younger and older version of the legendary coach along with the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy. The piece decorates a wall at Amol’s Party and Fiesta Favors, 227 Fredericksburg Road.

“I mean, we don’t know if he’s going to come back,” Sanchez told the Current. “Whether he does or he doesn’t, we just wanted to show our appreciation and love. He kind of goes unrecognized — and this is our only major sports team, and he keeps it alive.”

Popovich has been recovering at home since he suffered the stroke on Nov. 2, shortly before the Spurs’ 113-103 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Since then, the team has been led by interim head coach Mitch Johnson. Under his leadership, the team has gone 9-6.

In addition to Pop, the duo’s mural is dedicated to April Maldonado, a friend of Sanchez’s who died last week in a car accident.

Sanchez got the idea to dedicate the mural to Maldonado after a parakeet landed on his shoulder while painting the mural on what would have been her birthday. That same parakeet is also visible in the bottom left hand corner of the mural.

It’s not Sanchez’s first time doing a mural depicting a local sports hero. Sanchez’s mural of Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama was voted the best local mural by Current readers earlier this year.

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This article appears in Nov 27 – Dec 10, 2024.