Gregg Popovich Interrupts Game To Scold Spurs Fans For Booing Kawhi Leonard
NBA grandstander and Spurs coach Gregg Popovich pulled a ridiculous gesture late Wednesday.
Popovich interrupted a live game to scold the San Antonio Spurs home crowd for booing former Spur and current Clipper Kawhi Leonard as he prepared to shoot free throws.
In the last stretch of his career, Popovich is seemingly checked out on acting sane.
“Excuse me for a second. Can we stop all the booing and let these guys play?” Popovich said, to the shock of many. “It’s got no class, it’s not who we are. Knock off the booing.”
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The brow-raising move landed differently than Pop expected. Spurs fans raged on and continued to boo, some of those now heading toward the coach.
San Antonio fans booed Kawhi Leonard throughout the game as the Los Angeles Clippers visited Frost Bank Center.
Naturally, the Spurs faithful weren't thrilled to see Kawhi due to his imploded relationship with the organization, which ranked among the worst player exits in NBA history.
Leonard infamously left San Antonio in 2018 on sour terms after forcing a trade to the Toronto Raptors. The organization was fairly accommodating to Kawhi at the peak of his stardom, but the two-way All-Star seemingly delayed an injury rehab and coerced a trade out of the city that drafted him.
Despite winning the 2014 championship with the Spurs and earning Finals MVP honors, Leonard became persona non grata to a sect of Spurs fans.
Now, Pop is butting into this natural tension between fan and athlete, begging the crowds to stop booing.
Popovich's platform as a player-friendly coach has often been a detriment, as he tends to fire off his own rants instead.
From rants on gun control to police reform and outright hating America, Popovich is quite the volatile and politically progressive character. (Maybe there's a connection.)
The rant had all the rage of Steve Wyche's 1989 Cleveland rant without the substance ... another episode from Popovich.
The Spurs lost to the Clippers, 109-102.