Gregg Popovich shows insightful side in discussing player protests
The always abrasive Spurs coach showed his reflective side in assessing the impact of political protest on the NBA season.
With displays of protest everywhere across the sporting world, it can be easy to forget that this could truly be just the tip of the iceberg. The NBA, the country’s most predominantly African-American sport, has yet to start its season. And the expectation should be that the protests will do nothing but intensify as the year rolls along.
With that subject being on the minds of many, it should be no surprise that it is brought up during the various media days around NBA training camps. San Antonio Spurs camp was no exception to this, but what was surprising to an extent was the attention and detail of the response from Spurs coach Gregg Popovich carried.
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Popovich, who is renowned for his clipped (at best) responses to most media inquiries into his take on basketball affairs, was everything but short in assessment player rights and ability to express them. Praising the individual intellect of his players, he not only supported their right to protest, but also expressed disappointment with the way current protests have been misconstrued , especially that of Colin Kaepernick.
While Popovich’s commentary can be further delved into here, the undertone starts with his intent to support his player’s right of expression in full. Pop’s recognized the limitations of his personal point of view, due to his cultural background, but fully understands where others are coming from.
"“My players are engaged citizens who are fully capable of understanding what their values are, and what they think is appropriate and inappropriate, and what they feel strongly about. Whatever actions may or may not be taken are their decisions, and I’m not going to tell anyone ahead of time that if they don’t do A, B and C, they’re going to be gone or traded. I think that’s ignorant.”"
Next: Gregg Popovich on Tim Duncan's retirement
It was a rare, but enlightening look at one of basketball’s most straightforward and intentionally rigid personalities. And while nobody should get too comfortable with the idea of a measured, drawn out Popovich regarding basketball affairs, it should never be thought that he lacks opinion of consequence to share – when it pleases him to.