Gregg Popovich New Wife: Everything Known About Mary Barth Budenholzer
Gregg Popovich has spent most of his public life being associated with basketball, championships and the San Antonio Spurs. In September 2026, however, the Hall of Fame coach made headlines for a very different reason. Popovich quietly married Mary Barth Budenholzer in Texas, beginning a new personal chapter more than eight years after the death of his first wife, Erin Popovich.
Mary already had a long connection to the Spurs world before marrying Popovich. She was previously married to longtime NBA coach Mike Budenholzer, who spent nearly two decades working alongside Popovich in San Antonio before becoming an NBA head coach himself.
Court records confirm that Gregg Popovich and Mary Barth Budenholzer married on September 16, 2026, in Bexar County, Texas. The relationship had largely remained outside the spotlight, although the pair had been seen together at Spurs games before their marriage became public.
Who Is Gregg Popovich’s Wife?
Gregg Popovich’s wife is Mary Barth Budenholzer.
Mary, 61, is a Texas native who was born in Corpus Christi. She spent many years connected to the NBA community through her former marriage to Mike Budenholzer, one of the best-known members of Popovich’s coaching tree.
Unlike Popovich and her former husband, Mary has not built a career in the public sports spotlight. Much of what is known about her comes from her connection to the Budenholzer family and the San Antonio Spurs organization.
Her marriage to Popovich attracted immediate attention because of that unusual shared history.
Mike Budenholzer worked with Popovich from 1996 until 2013. He began his time with the Spurs organization in a relatively modest role before developing into one of Popovich’s most trusted assistant coaches.
Mary therefore knew the Spurs world long before her relationship with Popovich became public.
When Did Gregg Popovich and Mary Get Married?
Gregg Popovich and Mary Barth Budenholzer married on September 16, 2026.
Their marriage took place in Bexar County, Texas, according to official records cited in multiple reports. Popovich was 77 at the time, while Mary was 61.
The wedding appears to have been handled quietly.
There was no major celebrity announcement, elaborate social media campaign or public wedding celebration surrounding the news. That approach fits Popovich, who has spent decades being one of the NBA’s most recognizable figures while remaining guarded about his private life.
News of the marriage became public roughly a week after the ceremony.
The San Antonio Spurs did not immediately offer a detailed public statement about the marriage, and neither Popovich nor Mary has shared an extensive account of the wedding.
How Did Gregg Popovich and Mary Barth Budenholzer Meet?
The exact beginning of Gregg Popovich and Mary Barth Budenholzer’s romantic relationship has not been publicly established.
What is known is that they had been part of the same extended Spurs community for many years.
Mary’s former husband, Mike Budenholzer, joined San Antonio in the 1990s and eventually became an assistant coach under Popovich. He remained with the team until 2013, meaning Mary spent years around an organization where Popovich was the central figure.
That history does not establish when Gregg and Mary became romantically involved.
Public reporting has not identified a specific first date or year when their relationship changed. Reports have instead noted that the two were seen attending Spurs games together during the season before their marriage.
Given the private way both have handled the relationship, many details may simply remain within their families and close circle.
Mary Was Previously Married to Mike Budenholzer
Before marrying Gregg Popovich, Mary was married to NBA coach Mike Budenholzer.
Mike’s connection to Popovich is one of the reasons the new marriage received so much attention.
Budenholzer joined the Spurs organization in 1994 and later served as an assistant coach under Popovich from 1996 until 2013. During that period, San Antonio developed into one of the NBA’s most successful franchises.
The Spurs won NBA championships in 1999, 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2014. Budenholzer was on Popovich’s staff for the first four of those championship runs before leaving San Antonio in 2013 to become head coach of the Atlanta Hawks.
Mike later coached the Milwaukee Bucks and guided them to an NBA championship in 2021.
He also coached the Phoenix Suns during the 2024-25 season before the organization moved in another direction.
Mary and Mike divorced in 2016, several years before her marriage to Popovich.
Does Mary Barth Budenholzer Have Children?
Mary and Mike Budenholzer have four children together.
Although their parents have both been connected to high-profile NBA careers, the Budenholzer children have generally remained far less public than their father.
Mary’s identity has similarly remained centered much more around family than celebrity.
That is one reason there is relatively limited reliable information about her professional life or daily activities outside her connections to the NBA community.
Her marriage to Popovich may increase public curiosity, but there is little indication that Mary intends to become a regular media personality.
Gregg Popovich Was Previously Married to Erin Popovich
The marriage to Mary is Gregg Popovich’s second.
Popovich was previously married to Erin Popovich for more than four decades.
Gregg and Erin built their family long before his coaching career reached its greatest heights. They had two children together and later became grandparents.
Erin died in April 2018 at age 67 following a lengthy illness that the family largely kept private.
Her death came during the Spurs’ playoff series against the Golden State Warriors and prompted an outpouring of support from across the NBA.
Popovich rarely discussed the most personal parts of his marriage publicly, but people around the league frequently spoke about how important Erin had been to him and the Spurs community.
He remained unmarried for more than eight years following her death.
Popovich’s New Marriage Comes During a Major Life Transition
The marriage also comes after one of the biggest transitions of Popovich’s professional life.
For nearly three decades, Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs were practically impossible to separate.
He became the team’s head coach in 1996 and built the Spurs into one of the NBA’s most consistent organizations. Under Popovich, San Antonio won five NBA championships and reached the playoffs year after year behind stars including Tim Duncan, David Robinson, Tony Parker, Manu Ginóbili and Kawhi Leonard.
Popovich eventually became the NBA’s all-time leader in regular-season coaching victories.
His coaching career changed dramatically after he suffered a stroke in November 2024.
Assistant coach Mitch Johnson took over coaching duties, and in May 2025 Popovich officially stepped away from the bench after 29 seasons as San Antonio’s head coach.
He did not leave the Spurs organization.
Popovich continues to serve as president of basketball operations, maintaining his connection to the franchise he helped shape for decades.
The marriage to Mary therefore arrives at a time when Popovich’s everyday life looks considerably different from the years when an NBA season dictated almost every part of his schedule.
Mike Budenholzer Has Also Moved Forward
The unusual connection between Gregg, Mary and Mike naturally generated discussion among basketball fans, but the available timeline is important.
Mike and Mary ended their marriage in 2016.
Erin Popovich died in 2018.
There has been no reliable public reporting establishing when Gregg and Mary began dating, so attempts to create a more dramatic timeline go beyond what is currently known.
Reports also indicate that Mike Budenholzer has since entered another relationship of his own.
That context makes it more useful to view the marriage as a new chapter involving people who have known each other through the NBA world for decades, rather than filling in private parts of their history with assumptions.
Why Their Marriage Has Drawn So Much Attention
The fascination with Gregg Popovich’s wife is largely connected to the unusually close professional history surrounding everyone involved.
Popovich was Mike Budenholzer’s mentor and boss for almost two decades.
Budenholzer became one of the most successful coaches to emerge from the Spurs system, eventually winning his own NBA championship after leaving San Antonio.
Mary spent years around the same organization while married to Mike.
Decades later, she is now married to the coach who stood at the center of that Spurs dynasty.
That connection naturally makes the story stand out, but it should not overshadow how private the couple has chosen to keep their relationship.
Neither Popovich nor Mary has publicly offered a detailed explanation of how their romance developed, and there is no confirmed reason to assume they plan to do so.
Gregg Popovich and Mary Begin a New Chapter
Gregg Popovich has collected almost every major achievement available to an NBA coach.
He is a five-time NBA champion, the league’s winningest regular-season coach and a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. His influence extends far beyond San Antonio through the enormous coaching tree created during his decades with the Spurs.
In 2026, however, one of the biggest developments in his life had nothing to do with basketball.
Popovich married Mary Barth Budenholzer on September 16 in Bexar County, beginning his second marriage at age 77.
Mary brings her own long history with the Spurs community through her former marriage to Mike Budenholzer, but she has remained largely outside the public spotlight.
For now, many details of Gregg and Mary’s relationship remain private. What is confirmed is simple: after years of knowing the same basketball community and being seen together more recently, the two quietly married in Texas.
After nearly 30 years of Popovich’s life being measured in NBA seasons, playoff series and championship runs, his latest chapter is a much more personal one.
