Speaking on SI Now video, Sports Illustrated's Robin Lundberg said the San Antonio Spurs' players might not show up to play in the NBA's Western Conference Finals if their coach didn't take strong anti-President Trump political stands.
Lundberg also, and incredibly, claimed Spurs' Coach Gregg Popovich is not at all partisan in his ongoing criticisms of President Donald Trump.
SI Now hostess Maggie Gray prompted Lundberg's bias by asking if Popovich is going to get a backlash for addressing the political like Golden State Coach Steve Kerr and Colin Kaepernick have received. She also asked if this is a "stick-to-sports" moment for high profile sports figures. Here is Lundberg's response:
You're always going to get that. That silent majority doesn't speak out, the loud minority does a lot. Pop is hearing that, but part of the reason for doing something like this is having the gravitas and the courage of your convictions to come out and say it. He articulated what a lot of people are thinking, but don't have the ability to put it into words perfectly. It's this sense of it's not left vs. right but right vs. wrong."
Furthermore, Lundberg said he is "absolutely not" surprised that Popovich would make political statements at a time when his team is immersed in the NBA Western Conference Finals, and an underdog at that.
"I mean he's already done it throughout these playoffs," Lundberg said. "And Greg Popovich has put it very bluntly before. That there is a difference between real life and basketball. I think he feels a personal responsibility given the forum that he has to voice his concern."
Lundberg says the San Antonio coach is merely expressing "the popular opinion across the country period. And if he went the other way, look part of reason Pop is so respected by players and the media alike is because he is so honest, and if he went the other way his players might not show up for the game."
Those left-wing positions may be popular among media and many sports figures, but they certainly aren't mainstream.
Getting the last word, Gray said what Popovich is doing "seems dangerous. I'm not sure he's right, just because he won championships. I'm just curious if Popovich gets a pass in a lot of ways just because he's a basketball coach. That seems ludicrous."
Popovich made his controversial remarks prior to Sunday's loss at Golden State, reported here by CNN:
Usually things happen in the world and you go to work and you have your family and your friends and you do what you do. To this day, I feel like there's a cloud, a pall over the whole country in a paranoid, surreal sort of way. It's got nothing to do with the Democrats losing the election, it has to do with the way one individual conducts himself, and that's embarrassing. It's dangerous to our institutions and what we all stand for and what we expect the country to be. For this individual, he's in a game show. Everything that happens begins and ends with him, not our people or our country. Every time he talks about those things, it's a ruse. Disingenuous, cynical.
The far Left blog Deadspin said the San Antonio coach was "eloquent" in those comments.
