NBA: Playoffs-San Antonio Spurs at Oklahoma City Thunder
May 31, 2012; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich watches from the bench against the Oklahoma City Thunder during the second half in game three of the Western Conference finals of the 2012 NBA playoffs at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Oklahoma City won 102-82. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports Credit: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect (Reuters)
Gregg Popovich got married earlier this month according to TMZ. What makes this notable is the fact that he married Mary Barth Budenholzer, the ex-wife of Mike Budenholzer. Budenholzer was an assistant on Popovich’s staff in with the San Antonio Spurs from 1996 until he was hired as the head coach of the Atlanta Hawks in 2013.
Popovich, 77, lost his first wife, Erin, in 2018. The couple was married for 42 years and had two children. The longtime Spurs coach suffered a stroke at the start of the 2025-2026 season and missed most of the season before stepping down.
Mike and Mary Barth Budenholzer, 61, divorced in 2016 according to TMZ. The article goes on to say, “Mike’s got a new relationship too.”
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In 2018 Budenholzer took over as head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks. The team won the NBA championship in 2021, but he fired just two years later. In 2024 he signed a five-year, $50 million deal to coach the Phoenix Suns. He was fired after one season. His career record is 520-363 and his teams made the playoffs in nine of 11 seasons.
This may make for a juicy subject for a Life Advice e-mail, let’s just assume everyone involved is cool with it until we hear otherwise. In Budenholzer’s own words, if you wanted to last on the Spurs under Pop, you had to have a sense of humor. Via ESPN:
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“I will say that when he was evaluating players or we were evaluating players, if they don’t have a sense of humor, they probably were not going to last in San Antonio. And if they couldn’t laugh and especially laugh at yourself, it was a huge deal to have a sense of humor. He likes to be around people that have a good sense of humor that were smart and self-deprecating.”
Popovich and his new wife were seen attending Spurs games last season.