Gregg Popovich doesn’t sound like someone whose stance will change about his decision to grab the microphone and scold the Spurs’ home crowd for booing Kawhi Leonard — a former San Antonio star — on Wednesday.
When he fielded another question about the exchange before the Spurs’ game Friday, Popovich said he has “no regrets whatsoever” about defending Leonard, and he cited pleasant greetings during the initial returns and tribute videos for Leonard and Danny Green as one reason why he expected — and told — the fans to act differently six years later.
“I felt sorry for [Leonard], and I was embarrassed for our city, for our organization, because that’s not who we are,” Popovich, 74, said. “That’s not how we’ve conducted ourselves for the last 25 years. …Now don’t get me wrong, our fans, they’ve been great. They’ve supported us, and it was kind of a one-off that night, but they’ve been great. Our commitment to the community has been great, and we’ve loved every minute that they’ve been there supporting us.
“But it’s kind of an indication of the world we live in today. It was hateful. It was really disrespectful. And it was just mean-spirited.”
Late in the second quarter of Wednesday’s game, with Leonard shooting two free throws, Popovich grabbed the microphone from the scorer’s table and started addressing the crowd.
He tried to get their attention, saying, “Excuse me for a second.”
Then, he asked them to stop the booing and let everyone play the game, but he added postgame that another layer of his comment stemmed from not wanting to “poke the bear” — Leonard, a five-time All-Star, has averaged 21.8 points per game this season — and fuel the 32-year-old, who was traded from San Antonio to the Raptors following the 2017-18 season.
“It’s got no class,” Popovich told the crowd. “It’s not who we are. Knock off the booing.”
He echoed a similar tone two days later, before the Spurs were defeated by the Warriors for their 11th consecutive loss.
They sit in last place in the Western Conference, and even after adding Victor Wembanyama (19.0 points, 9.4 rebounds per game) as the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft, the Spurs have still struggled to make early-season strides.
“There’s enough hate in the world where I think it’s totally inappropriate, it’s not what you teach your kids to do,” Popovich said Friday. “And then on a practical level, it hurts us more than it hurts them because it just pokes the bear, it makes him want to stick it to you even harder, and that hurts your team.
“So it doesn’t make any sense. It’s unwise, on every level.”
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