San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich remains one of basketball’s respectable figures and rarely holds back. The five-time NBA champion has established himself as someone who will say it straight to everyone, including fans watching a game.
This was on full display when the Spurs faced the Los Angeles Clippers. A familiar name on the Clippers side is Kawhi Leonard, someone who played under Coach Pop and San Antonio until 2018.
Like most players who play for other teams, Leonard was unsurprisingly booed upon his return to the Frost Bank Center on Wednesday, November 22.
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Ironically, Popovich made an unusual move while Leonard was at the free throw line. He took the microphone and addressed the fans in attendance.
“Excuse me for a second. Please stop all the booing and let these guys play. There’s no class and that’s not who we are. Stop the booing,” said l 74-year-old coach.
The Spurs then lost 109-102. But Popovich’s gesture was unexpected but elegant.
Here are some other epic Greg Popovich moments that most may remember.
Popovich on the title of world champion
This topic has gone viral this year: should we call NBA champions world champions? Most remember that it was trickster Noah Lyles who started it all. However, it turned out that Popovich had done a similar statement in 2010, by Launderer’s Report.
“It makes no sense for an NBA team to call itself a world champion. I don’t remember anyone playing outside of our borders to get that title,” Popovich said in 2010.
The Los Angeles Lakers were the Champions that year, defeating the Boston Celtics in 7 games via the Los Angeles Times.
Popovich attacks journalist while coaching US team
Popovich is the kind of guy who can put anyone to shame if they don’t ask the right questions. When he was coaching Team USA in 2021, he didn’t appreciate a question asked by a reporter.
The question was directed to Damian Lillard, but Popovich was offended by the question. Things got heated at one point, with the three-time NBA Coach of the Year lecturing the reporter the sports center had captured.
Popovich has little fear of being excluded from games
Gregg Popovich will never back down from an argument, especially if he knows he’s right. This includes official NBA games. Popovich has had his share of ejections for arguing with game officials throughout his career. In 2019, he became the first NBA head coach to be quickly forced out when the Spurs played the Denver Nuggets. He was banned after only 1 minute and three seconds of match via Marca.com.
Apart from these moments, many things can come to mind. Some may be passionate, while others may be comical. As long as Coach Pop is actively coaching, fans can expect more unusual moves from the unpredictable and brooding NBA champion coach.
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