The head coach of the San Antonio Spurs, Gregg Popovich, responded to criticism from president Donald Trump regarding NBA/China controversy.
“[Silver] stood by our nation and its principles. That’s pretty huge in these days. Sometimes, it’s kind of Orwellian. You think we’re living in a place where, ‘Is this really happening?’
But that comparison was pretty stark when you put our president up against those leaders when he’s with them or talking to him and how he reacts compared to the way Adam Silver reacted. I was proud of him. It was great,” Popovich told reporters prior to the preseason game against the New Orleans Pelicans.
On Wednesday (09/10), Trump had targeted Popovich and the Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr concerning their responses about China.
“They talk badly about the United States, but when it talks about China, they don’t want to say anything bad. I thought it was pretty sad, actually. It’ll be very interesting,” Trump said.
“All I did was make a comparison between Adam Silver’s show of principle and courage in a tough situation, as opposed to how our president reacts when in the company of authoritarian figures, whether it’s Saudi Arabia, North Korea, Russia or Turkey, whatever it is.
It comes off as really feckless, impotent, cowardly by comparison,” Popovich stated, per Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio-Express News.
