National Basketball Association

Gregg Popovich rails against President Donald Trump, supports protests

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 4:30 p.m. ET

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Fansided, Philip Rossman-Reich/Fansided

San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has not been afraid to speak about the politics this election season. He had some harsh words for the new president Donald Trump.

San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has not been afraid to speak his mind about politics and non-basketball events in his pregame press availabilities before. The political rhetoric for athletes has been turned to 11 for much of this election cycle with the nomination and eventual election of now-President Donald J. Trump.

The NBA not-so-secretly was not a huge fan of the divisive candidate. And it did not seem his inauguration or the transition has done anything to quell frustration among those who did not support him — in the NBA or out.

The day after Trump’s inauguration saw massive crowds fill the streets of Washington, D.C. and several other major cities around the nation and the world in protest of Trump’s policies viewed as divisive, and his actions and words toward women specifically. There is a lot of fear about what may happen in the next four years — justified or not.

Popovich has spoken about politics a few times already this season. He had a blistering response to Trump’s election in November. The former Air Force member (he nearly joined the CIA) is not afraid to wade into these waters.

And he did so again Saturday ahead of the San Antonio Spurs’ game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. While he continued to express concern over Trump — and especially his relationship with the truth and basing his arguments on facts — he expressed optimism over the way Americans rallied and marched in protest Saturday.

“The march today was great,” Popovich said (as told to Dave McMenamin of ESPN in the tweet above). “That message is important and it could have been a whole lot of groups marching. And somebody on TV said, ‘What’s their message?’ Well, their message is obvious. That’s, our president comes in with the lowest (approval) rating of anybody who ever came into office and there’s a majority of people out there, since Hillary [Clinton] won the popular vote, that don’t buy his act.”

That is at least partially what the protests were about. The Women’s Marches that took place primarily in Washington, D.C. on the day after President Trump’s inauguration and had sister marches throughout the country were primarily about supporting women’s causes of various types since many feel progress on several key women’s issues could halt with the Trump administration.

The Women’s Marches that took place primarily in Washington, D.C. on the day after President Trump’s inauguration and had sister marches throughout the country were primarily about supporting women’s causes of various types since many feel progress on several key women’s issues could halt with the Trump administration.

The point remains, many across the nation were protesting Trump directly. And in D.C., at the very least, the protests drew more in attendance than the inauguration itself.

This despite White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer falsely chiding the media for failing to report accurate numbers for Trump’s inauguration, claiming in one breath that there was no way to know how many people attended and then in the next breath claiming it to be the most well attended inauguration in history — despite video and images to the contrary.

And that led Popovich to his second warning.

Popovich said it is “worrisome” that Trump went to the CIA headquarters and talked about the size of the crowd for his inauguration rather than the men and women who gave their life in service to this country or his sometimes frayed relationship with the intelligence community.

It is at a point, Popovich said, you “really can’t believe a word that comes out of his mouth.” Popovich pointed to Trump’s insistence on two conspiracy theories that have proven to be completely unfounded.

For a concerned citizen like Popovich, Saturday’s rallies seemed to restore his faith in America.

“I felt great today watching the march in protest to how he has conducted himself, because it tells me hey I do live in a country where a whole lot of people care. And we have to be vigilant to make sure that, although that we hope he does good things for our country, that we don’t get embarrassed by him and roll back liberties that have been worked for so long in so many different areas.”

There will be a “stick to sports” crowd when they hear Popovich say this. But he, like so many who took to the streets across the country, is a concerned citizen entering an uncertain era in American history.

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