If you’re an NBA fan then you already know that San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich is smarter than you. He’s smarter than any of us. At a recent media day, Gregg Popovich gave some thoughtful and well-reasoned answers on Colin Kaepernick’s protest, race relations in America, police brutality, and more. It’s fantastic stuff. Here are some of my favorite quotes.
The answer to the initial question.
I think it’s really dangerous to answer such important questions that have confounded so many people for hundreds of years, to ask me to give you my solutions, as if I had any, in 30 seconds.
Gregg Popovich on white people identifying with how black people view the police.
It’s easier for white people because we haven’t lived that experience. It’s difficult for many white people to understand the day-to-day feeling that many black people have to deal with. It’s not just a rogue policeman, or a policeman exerting too much force or power. When we know that most of the police are just trying to do their job, which is very difficult. I’d be scared to death if I was a policeman and I stopped a car. You just don’t know what’s going to happen. And part of that in our country is exacerbated by the preponderance of guns that other countries don’t have to deal with. It gets very complicated.
And my favorite part, Gregg Popovich on idiots twisting Colin Kaepernick’s message as some sort of anti-military stance. Keep in mind that Pop graduated from the United States Air Force Academy and was on active duty with the Air Force for five years.
With Kaepernick, a pretty good group of people immediately thought he was disrespecting the military. It had nothing to do with his protest. In fact, he was able to do what he did because of what the military does for us. Most thinking people understand that, but there’s always going to be an element that wants to jump on a bandwagon, and that’s what’s unfortunate about our country. It’s gotten to a point where the civility and the level of discourse is basically in the gutter.
I highly recommend checking out the entire media day transcript, linked below. The man is a national treasure.
I can’t add anything to that. Pop is the master of making a good point in few words.