Gregg Popovich explains why he took the mic mid-game to ask Spurs fans to stop booing Kawhi Leonard

San Antonio Spurs head trainer Gregg Popovich hasn’t ever been afraid to discuss his thoughts, however he normally saves the ones ideas for his press meetings ahead of and after the video games. He could not wait on Wednesday night time towards the Los Angeles Clippers, and took the mic mid-game to ask Spurs fans to stop booing Kawhi Leonard. 

“Anybody that knows anything about sports. You don’t poke the bear,” Popovich said post-game when requested for a proof. He declined to expound after a follow-up. “I spoke English, I just told ya. Anybody that knows anything about sports knows that you don’t poke the bear.”

With 3:06 final in the 2d quarter, and Leonard status at the loose throw line, Popovich walked over to the scorer’s desk and assumed keep an eye on of the public deal with machine. 

“Excuse me for a second,” Popovich stated. “Can we stop all the booing and let these guys play. It’s got no class, it’s not who we are. Knock off the booing.”

Per ESPN reporter Andrew Lopez, Popovich’s pleas did not paintings. The boos best intensified, as the Spurs fans confirmed their displeasure with Leonard again on the town. 

“I thought that was an awesome moment, despite the fans booing, I think, even more,” Paul George stated. “I think that was a hell of a moment, Pop having Kawhi’s back in that situation.”

Leonard, in fact, spent the first seven seasons of his profession with the Spurs, and was once named NBA Finals MVP in 2014 after the Spurs received their ultimate identify. But regardless of his luck with the franchise, which integrated successful back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year awards in 2015 and 2016, his odd departure has grew to become him right into a villain in San Antonio.

He best performed 9 video games in 2017-18 due to a quadriceps harm, although there was once a dispute between him and the crew’s clinical workforce, which had cleared him to go back. The subsequent summer season Leonard asked a business and was once sooner or later despatched to the Toronto raptors together with Danny Green in trade for DeMar DeRozan, Jakob Poeltl and a first-round pick out that become Keldon Johnson.

This was once Leonard’s 14th sport again in San Antonio, and he has been booed there ahead of, so it is unclear why Popovich determined this time was once sufficient. Many in the area regarded confused in the second, together with a few of the gamers, and for excellent reason why as now we have by no means noticed the rest like that ahead of in a sport. 

Leonard, for his section, had no downside with the boos. 

“If I don’t have a Spurs jersey on, they are probably going to boo me for the rest of my career,” Leonard said. “It is what it is. They are some of the best fans in the league and they are very competitive. Once I stand on this basketball court out here, they are going to show that they are going for the other side. When I’m on the streets or going into a restaurant, they show love. It is what it is.”