San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, a man just as likely to go on a rant blasting the 2nd Amendment or calling his country racist as he is to talk about basketball, has just signed the most lucrative contract for a head coach in NBA history.
Popovich, 74, has reportedly signed a deal worth more than $80 million. The contract eclipses the $78.5 million contract Monty Williams signed with the Detroit Pistons in June.
While “Pop,” as he is commonly known in NBA circles, has undoubtedly won his fair share of accolades on the court in his 27 seasons leading the Spurs, including five NBA titles, he has made more than his fair share of headlines for criticizing the county that has lavished such wealth and fame on him.
In April, Popovich chose to distract from San Antonio’s worst season in nearly 30 years by devoting ten minutes of his pre-game press conference to calling the 2nd Amendment a “myth,” among other things.
Pop used final 10 minutes of his pre-game presser to slam “cowardly, oblivious legislators” for their inaction on gun control in wake of the mass shootings that have plagued America. Their inaction, he said, has contributed to making the U.S. the “laughingstock” of the world.. pic.twitter.com/qIXZIDIyp3
— Tom Orsborn (@tom_orsborn) April 9, 2023
In 2021, Popovich compared Christopher Columbus to Hitler and called him a “murderer” and mutilator.
Here’s Popovich’s thoughts on Columbus Day, #sanantonio school districts that recognize Columbus Day #nba #gospursgo #nbatwitter pic.twitter.com/yC5AGeZok1
— JeffGSpursKENS5 (@JeffGSpursZone) October 9, 2021
In July 2022, while giving a speech at a social justice summit in New York, Popovich denounced America as a country full of racists that he did not realize existed.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich made a surprise appearance at a social justice summit in NYC to present an award to Innocence Project co-founder Barry Scheck, honoring a program that exonerates the wrongly convicted. Summit organized by Jay Z’s Roc Nation and United Justice Coalition. pic.twitter.com/tY4XGk3uC9
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 23, 2022
In August 2020, Popovich called then-President Trump a “racist” while praising the City of Austin for slashing a third of their police force.
“I think that’s the key, very frankly,” he bloviated. “Obviously nothing’s happening from the top. We have a president who is obviously racist by any measure, so the local grassroots politicians have to take the lead, and I’m thrilled at the notion of the two actions that have just been taken.”
Popovich continued, “All the systemic racism we talk about is still there because all we’ve done is talk about it for so long, and nothing has really happened, or we’ve taken a step forward and two steps back, but to act the way you just described in San Antonio I hope and in Austin is the way that we have to do this. People will get it done.”
And just a year before that, Popovich called former 49er QB Colin Kaepernick’s anthem protests a “very patriotic thing.”
“Patriotism means a lot of things to different people,” Popovich told reporters at Team USA practice. “There’s people who are truly committed in that sense and people who are fake. The show of patriotism I think is a bit inappropriate and that is not something that I think we want to emulate. Because someone hugs a flag doesn’t mean they’re patriotic. Being a patriot is somebody that respects their country and understands that the best thing about our country is that we have the ability to fix things that have not come to fruition for a lot of people so far.
“Like a Kaepernick. That was a very patriotic thing he did. He cared about his country enough to fix some things that were obvious, that everybody knows about but does nothing about,” he said.
“All the promises in the beginning when the country was established is fantastic, but those goals have not been reached yet for a lot of people,” Popovich absurdly added. “So you can still be patriotic and understand that there still needs to be criticism and changes and more attention paid to those who do not have what other people do have, and that’s where we’ve fallen short in a lot of different ways. Being a critic of those inequalities does not make you a non-patriot. It’s what makes America great, that you can say those things and attack those things to make them better. That’s what a lot of other countries don’t have. You lose your freedom when you do that.”
In truth, there are too many examples of Popovich criticizing his country to fit into one article. Conversely, one could easily fit all the instances of him praising his country into one article, and it wouldn’t be a long article.