The reporter should have known better. After a pithy — even by his standards — in-game interview with David Aldridge before the fourth quarter Thursday night, Gregg Popovich‘s biting wit carried over to the post-game round of questions, when he told a reporter, “You’re not worth much.”
Popovich was asked to explain the blowouts in all five Western Conference Finals games. Here’s their exchange:
Reporter: Five games, five blowouts. To us who don’t really know the game, how do you explain that?
Popovich: You’re serious? You really think I can explain that?
Reporter:: In simplest terms. I know you can. The question is, will you?
Popovich: Good Lord. And they pay you, don’t they?
Reporter: Very little.
Popovich: [laughs] Thus the question. You’re not worth much.
This was the back-and-forth after the Spurs WON…by 28!
Earlier, Tim Duncan said the ups and downs make this the “craziest series I’ve ever been involved in,” but Popovich did eventually get around to talking about the violent ebbs and flows of the matchup and concluded with some more sarcasm because it’s Popovich and he doesn’t suffer any fools:
“I have no clue, honestly…
“The game is played once it begins and adjustments start. Both sides are going to make adjustments, whether it’s substitutions or changing pick-and-roll defenses or who you want to go to, how many minutes so-and-so should play. All that happens when the game starts. There are plays, there are calls, there are runs that happen that make momentum stop or get extended. And then a lot of it has got to do with players making shots on a certain night, and it can go in either direction.
“Obviously it seems like the home court motivates both teams pretty well. That’s one thing I guess you could say. They both look like they feel pretty comfortable playing at home. So that’s why we’ve opted not to go to OKC [for Game 6].”
If you’re ever wondering why we love Popovich, it’s because of moments like this just as much as his tactical and motivational genius.
(video via YouTube user cjzerovids)
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