Gregg Popovich didn’t hold back when discussing NFL owners like Robert Kraft and Jerry Jones in relation to the current social climate and the Black Lives Matter movement. In an opinion piece by Maureen Dowd of the New York Times, Popovich sat down for a wide-ranging interview about race and sports.
The Spurs coach talked about how white coaches need to gain the trust of their Black players and understand that they come from different places and often see very different things. Popovich said he’s realized he’s a “privileged son of a bitch” in recent days when speaking with Spurs players and learning more about their reactions to the national conversation about race and police brutality.
But in recent calls with the Spurs’ players and staff he has been amazed at the level of hurt.
“It would bring you to tears,” he says, his voice cracking. “It’s even deeper than you thought, and that’s what really made me start to think: You’re a privileged son of a bitch and you still don’t get it as much as you think you do. You gotta work harder. You gotta be more aware. You gotta be pushed and embarrassed. You’ve gotta call it out.”
His most biting criticism was saved for Donald Trump, as it often is, but this time he also took aim at another sports league and its past stance on peaceful protests: the NFL. He called NFL owners hypocritical for how they handled Kaepernick’s protest initially and their reversal amid widespread protests against police brutality nationwide.
What does he think about the fact that seven N.F.L. owners, including Jerry Jones and Robert Kraft, each gave a million to Trump’s Inaugural Committee?
“It’s just hypocritical,” he replies. “It’s incongruent. It doesn’t make sense. People aren’t blind. Do you go to your staff and your players and talk about injustices and democracy and how to protest? I don’t get it. I think they put themselves in a position that’s untenable.”
He also criticized NFL commissioner Roger Goodell for how “he folded” to Donald Trump and “didn’t understand the difference between the flag and what makes the country great.” The whole piece is as critical a person in sports has been of the NFL, especially coming from someone so actively critical of the political and social structure at play in the United States.
[via The New York Times]
