Gregg Popovich Called A Referee ‘Terrible’ During A Freak Out That Led To An Ejection

Gregg Popovich is beloved by much of the NBA world. With that said, he may not be a favorite of officials (or sideline reporters) and the head coach of the San Antonio Spurs fully unleashed on one during Thursday’s game against the Denver Nuggets.

Late in the first half of a tight game, Popovich was berating referee Bennie Adams in the midst of a half-court set and, at some point, the veteran coach crossed the line. At that point, Adams quickly whistled Popovich for a technical foul, but that did not slow down the 67-year-old future Hall of Famer. Popovich became incensed with Adams, charging on to the court and screaming in his direction as the veteran official tried to relay the technical foul to the scorer’s table.

On the video above, Popovich can clearly be seen referring to Adams as a “terrible referee.” He took it so far that he was ejected by another official in the midst of the rant. The price for being ejected prior to halftime in a closely contested game is that the Spurs are forced to play without one of the game’s greatest minds on the bench, but something in Gregg Popovich snapped and the victim was Bennie Adams.

No one was happier about this than Nuggets guard Emmanuel Mudiay.

https://twitter.com/World_Wide_Wob/status/822272067563180032

That’s how you celebrate an ejection.