Gregg Popovich reacts to recent sports, culture and political issues
By Rob Wolkenbrod
At San Antonio Spurs Media Day, head coach Gregg Popovich spoke about the recent sports-political controversies.
Before San Antonio Spurs Media Day, the topic of politics and sports took over the weekend’s headlines. It came after President Donald Trump made controversial remarks about the NFL’s anthem protests and revoked the invitation for the Golden State Warriors to visit the White House to celebrate their NBA championship win in June.
The fallout saw NFL players from every franchise peacefully protest the anthem on Sunday. Players locked arms or kneeled while the Star-Spangled Banner played through their respective venues.
At San Antonio’s Media Day on Monday, head coach Gregg Popovich spoke on the recent events. According to Melissa Rohlin of the San Antonio Express-News, Popovich said, “Our country is an embarrassment to the world.” He also discussed the Warriors’ situation.
Pop: “Our country is an embarrassment to the world.”
— Melissa Rohlin (@melissarohlin) September 25, 2017
Pop: “Bc you were born white you have advantages…Many people can’t look at it, it’s too difficult.”
— Melissa Rohlin (@melissarohlin) September 25, 2017
Pop on Warriors invite: “I thought it was comical it was rescinded bc they weren’t going to go anyway.” Called it “disgusting”& “comical.”
— Melissa Rohlin (@melissarohlin) September 25, 2017
Video of Popovich’s comments on the Warriors’ revoked White House invite is below:
Popovich on #Warriors White House visit being rescinded #Spurs #NBA pic.twitter.com/aY3KyV3uJL
— Jabari Young (@JabariJYoung) September 25, 2017
A full quote of Popovich on political and cultures issues can be seen below:
Popovich: "We still have no clue what being born white means."
here's the full quote pic.twitter.com/sI98j9gNMs
— Tim Cato (@tim_cato) September 25, 2017
It’s not the first time Popovich criticized Trump. In May, USA Today documented the six other times this happened.
Popovich wasn’t the only NBA figure to speak out. Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James discussed how sports and politics intertwine.
The sports-politics debate escalated over the weekend, after it was an on-and-off topic for the past year. It took off when former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick didn’t stand for the national anthem in 2016. His peaceful protest drew national headlines and sparked the debate for all sports, with the NFL and NBA at the forefront.
It’s hard to see this going away anytime soon, given the magnitude of the debate and its national scale. The topic will keep up at NFL games and the NBA season, which gets underway in early October with the preseason. Will players take a knee for the national anthem?
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Basketball will begin soon, however. Let’s look forward to that and hope it unifies everyone. The same goes for football, baseball, and other sports at the national level.