Spurs' Mitch Johnson, Jazz's Will Hardy formed friendship as assistants

Back when they were members of Gregg Popovich’s Spurs coaching staff, Mitch Johnson and Will Hardy had a blast as teammates in the assistants’ pickup basketball games.

“We never got to play one-on-one (basketball),” Johnson said. “That would be a very slow, painful matchup.”

Johnson’s quip reflects the bond the young coaches share.

In his second season as leader of the Spurs, Johnson counts Hardy, who is in his fifth season guiding the Utah Jazz, as one of his best friends in the profession.

“I hope he loses only the (three) games we play (against each other),” Johnson said. “He’s a good person.”

Hardy, 38, and Johnson, 39, squared off Monday night at the Frost Bank Center for the second time in less than a week after the Spurs claimed an overtime victory in the series opener last Wednesday in Salt Lake City.

The Spurs and Jazz play again for the final time this season Nov. 15 at the Delta Center.

The friendship between the coaches began in 2016 after Johnson joined the Spurs as an asxsistant with the Austin Spurs in the G League following a one-year stint as an assistant at the University of Portland.

When the Spurs promoted Johnson to Popovich’s staff in 2019, Hardy, who joined the Spurs before the 2015-16 season, helped show him the ropes.

“Will Hardy and Chip Engelland were the two guys that took me under their wings and definitely helped me with the unwritten rules and the lay of the land,” Johnson said.

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Then in November 2024 in his third season as Utah’s coach, Hardy offered Johnson encouragement when his friend became the Spurs acting head coach after Popovich suffered a stroke.

“Will’s a good friend and one of the people in this league that’s done a lot for me and one of the people that did the most for me when I first got to San Antonio,” Johnson said. “He has helped me a ton along the way, whether it was when I first became head coach or when I first got to San Antonio.”

Hardy enjoyed watching Johnson and the Spurs during the playoffs last season, when Victor Wembanyama and Co. vanquished Portland, Minnesota and Oklahoma City before losing to New York in the Finals.

“Mitch does an amazing job with their team,” Hardy said of Johnson, who entered Monday’s game with a 98-67 regular season record after the Spurs finished 62-20 last season and started this year 4-2.

“They had a heck of a season last year and a great playoff run,” added Hardy, who came into Monday’s contest with a 108-226 mark with the Jazz after last season’s 22-60 finish and a 1-5 start this year.

In their head-to-head matchups, Johnson came into Monday’s game with a 5-2 advantage. 

“That’s a very good young team, a very well-coached team that is competing their butts off,” Johnson said after the Spurs held on to beat the Jazz 117-111 last week.

Hardy said he hopes his crew, which includes Keyonte George (16th overall pick in 2023), Ace Bailey (selected fifth overall in 2025) and Darryn Peterson (selected second overall in June), develops the same mindset Johnson instilled in the young Spurs last season.

“The fearlessness they played with last year throughout the regular season and then ultimately through the playoffs is something I’d love for our team to keep adopting,” Hardy said. “We have a really hungry group. That’s the thing that stood out to me the most from San Antonio last year is they were fearless. They didn’t listen to any of the conversations about their age.”

Hardy, a native of Richmond, Va., who played as a 6-foot-6 forward/guard at Division III Williams College (Mass.) for four years from 2006-2010, also admires what he calls Johnson’s “high-level basketball brain” after the Seattle native performed as a 6-1 point guard at Stanford for four seasons from 2005-2009.

“He is a point guard through and through,” Hardy said. “It is amazing when you come across real point guards, how they know where all five people are supposed to be all of the time. He’s a hell of a coach.”

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This article originally published at Spurs’ Mitch Johnson, Jazz’s Will Hardy formed friendship as assistants.