(Photo by Joshua Gateley/Getty Images)
San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has always been known for being a class act around his players.
While tough love is also a big part of the deal, most of his former players often acknowledge that they’ve developed a strong, father-like bond with Coach Pop.
Those bonds can last for a lifetime, even if the said player wasn’t on the team for long.
That’s why it wasn’t much of a surprise to see Popovich taking offense at the fact that some local fans started booing Kawhi Leonard when he went to the free-throw line.
Popovich went to the scorer’s table and told the fans to stop booing because that’s not a part of the team’s identity.
Notably, that didn’t sit well with Justin Termine of SiriusXM NBA, who called Pop out for pretending to be a class act when he’s constantly disrespected journalists who were just trying to do their jobs.
A guy who constantly treats reporters trying to do their jobs with disrespect lecturing others about class is pretty damn funny. https://t.co/cyqQor3kCy
— Justin Termine (@TermineRadio) November 23, 2023
Truth be told, he has a valid point there.
While it could be hilarious to the fans, Pop’s Bill Belichick-like responses are often blunt and disrespectful.
We get it, he’s old school, and he doesn’t want to give anything away when he speaks, but he can cross the line from time to time.
Then again, Popovich has earned his stripes in the league, and knowing what to ask, when to ask it, and how to ask it is also a journalist’s job.
Pop will always stand for his current and former players, and while he might not be a moral authority — and the fans definitely have more than enough reasons to dislike Kawhi — there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.
The post Analyst Calls Out Gregg Popovich Over Kawhi Leonard Comments appeared first on The Cold Wire.