Gregg Popovich, coach of the San Antonio Spurs, was the protagonist of a curious anecdote during this morning’s game lost by his team at home against the Los Angeles Clippers (102-109), when he took the microphone between two free throws by Kawhi Leonard to ask his own public to stop whistling at his rivals. “Excuse me for a second. Can we stop booing and let these guys play? Have a little class. This is not who we are. Enough booing,” Popovich said.
There were 3.06 minutes left in the second quarter and the Clippers were already leading 39-48. His message was not received positively by the Texan public, who increased the level of booing of the Clippers players. With Popovich on the bench, Leonard was NBA champion in 2014 with the Spurs, being chosen as the best player in the finals. Popovich has been the coach of the Spurs since 1996 and has won five NBA championships with them (1999, 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2014).
After the 2014 title, Leonard was named NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 2015 and 2016. However, he only played nine games in the 2017-18 season due to a quadriceps injury that also left him in trouble with the NBA medical team. the Spurs. He asked to leave the franchise in 2018 to join the Raptors, with whom he was champion in 2019. Since then, the 32-year-old Californian has been considered an enemy by many Spurs fans.
Asked after the game about his intervention, Popovich did not give many explanations, but implied that it was counterproductive to provoke him. “Anyone who knows anything about sports knows not to poke a bear,” he said after the game. And when they asked him if he could clarify his answer, he simply reiterated it after a sharp: “I spoke in English.” Leonard finished the game as the leading scorer, with 26 points, to which he added four rebounds and four assists, leading the Clippers to their third consecutive victory in the NBA.
“If I don’t wear a Spurs jersey, I’ll probably get booed for the rest of my career,” Leonard said. “It is what it is. “They are some of the best fans in the league and they are very competitive,” he added.
It was the 14th time Leonard had faced the Spurs in San Antonio since leaving the team. He’s been booed before, so it’s unclear why Popovich decided to intervene this time. Fans booed Leonard loudly the first time he played in San Antonio after he was traded to Toronto, but the whistles had diminished over the years.
This same Monday, the Clippers already played at the Spurs’ home and there was a division of opinion. “It was a little 50-50 tonight. I heard some cheering and some booing. But as I said before, it is a competitive hobby. They want to win every game, so once I get to the game, there’s going to be some booing. But walking around the city, or in restaurants, they show me affection,” he explained after that game, which the Clippers won 99-124.
“I think it was an incredible moment, despite the boos from the fans, I think even more so,” Paul George, who contributed 24 points, said after the game. “Pop covering Kawhi’s back in that situation.” James Harden, another player much cheered by the public, scored 16 points, with six rebounds and nine assists. For the Spurs, who are bottom of the Western Conference with 3 wins and 12 losses, the last 10 consecutively, Frenchman Victor Wembanyama contributed 22 points, 15 rebounds and three assists.
There is no precedent for a coach interrupting the booing of the public in the middle of a game. The incident is perhaps reminiscent of when controversial Indiana Hoosiers coach Bobby Knight took the microphone to berate fans for their actions during their matchup against Michigan State on Jan. 21, 1989. “I don’t care what the quality is. of refereeing, we don’t throw things here,” Knight said. Maybe he wasn’t the best person to say it, knowing his background, including the time he threw a chair onto the court while an opponent was shooting free throws.
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