Back in November Gregg Popovich said he was “sick to my stomach” following Donald Trump’s election victory. On Saturday, the San Antonio Spurs coach made it clear he feels no better about the new president following his inauguration.
Popovich devoted nearly half of his media session before the Spurs’ game against the Cavaliers to the subject of Trump, and he had praise for this weekend’s women’s marches against the president.
“The march today was great,” Popovich said. “That message is important, and it could have been a whole lot of groups marching. And somebody said on TV, ‘What’s their message?’ Well, their message is obvious. That our president comes in with the lowest rating of anybody who ever came into the office. And there’s a majority of people out there, since Hillary [Clinton] won the popular vote, that don’t buy his act. And I just wish that he was more – had the ability to be more – mature enough to do something that really is inclusive rather than just talking and saying, ‘I’m going to include everybody.’
“He could talk to the groups that he disrespected and maligned during the primary and really make somebody believe it. But so far, we’ve got to a point where you really can’t believe anything that comes out of his mouth. You really can’t.”
Popovich is an Air Force veteran, and was interested in a career in intelligence before he devoted himself to basketball. That experience seemed to play a part when he turned his attention to Trump’s appearance at the memorial for CIA officers killed in action on Saturday.
“With the CIA today, instead of honoring the 117 people behind him where he was speaking, he talked about the size of the crowd, [at his inauguration]” Popovich said. “That’s worrisome. That’s worrisome. I’d just feel better if somebody was in that position that showed the maturity and psychological and emotional level of somebody that was his age. It’s dangerous, and it doesn’t do us any good.
“I hope he does a great job, but there’s a difference between respecting the office of the presidency and who occupies it. And that respect has to be earned. But it’s hard to be respectful of someone when we all have kids, and we’re watching him be misogynistic and xenophobic and racist and make fun of handicapped people.”
Popovich is known for being brief and to the point with the media, and he believes Trump’s volatility is dangerous.
“When the media reports what he says, I’m not sure why he can get angry about that,” Popovich, who has won five NBA titles with the Spurs, said. “It does boggle the mind how somebody can be so thin-skinned. It’s all obvious: it’s about him. If anything affects him, if it’s Saturday Night Live or Hamilton or she got 3m more votes than you. ‘They’re illegal.’ It doesn’t matter what it is, there’s a pattern there. And that’s dangerous. I’d like to have someone with gravitas, but he got there through the electoral college, which is part of our system, and I hope he does some good things.
“There was a young lady on today who said, ‘I just wished he had gone up there and said something like, ‘And I know I said certain things ...’ or, you know, ‘I would really like to bring the people who don’t feel ...’ or, ‘I know some of you are scared.’ But he can’t do that because bullies don’t do that. That’s why.”
Cracks at Trump were not limited to the NBA on Saturday. The NHL’s Dallas Stars made reference to the Trump regime’s questionable claims that a record number of people had attended his inauguration, by claiming a crowd of 1.5 million for the game against the Washington Capitals.
Kate Morrison (@unlikelyfanatic)
Stars Jumbotron with a topical joke. pic.twitter.com/9vsmTG1Agj
January 22, 2017
Popovich is not the only NBA coach to have criticized Trump. Steve Kerr, who coached the Golden State Warriors to the NBA title in 2015, said Trump’s election for a blow for “respect and dignity”.
Popovich’s Spurs went on to beat the Cavaliers 118-115 in overtime on Saturday night.
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