De’Aaron Fox had a solid performance tonight as the Spurs made things even at 2-2 in the Western Conference Finals series with a 103-82 win at home. He ended up with a double-double as he had 12 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists while going 5-13 from the floor (38.5 FG%).
Following the game, Fox spoke to the crew of ‘NBA Showtime by AT&T’ and the former Spurs player, Tracy McGrady, enquired about any “nastiness” from Coach Popovich in their locker room.
Fox revealed that Gregg Popovich had to enter the locker room for the first time in the season after their loss in Game 3 to apparently scold the players for not meeting expectations.
“We lost Game 3, and Pops has been around throughout the course of the season, but that was the first time he walked into the locker room and was like ‘Nah, that’s BS.. that’s not how we play basketball,’ and obviously he had some choice words for us.”
“But that was the first time all season that he came into the locker room right after a game and told us how he felt. You know, Mitch was in there, B Wright was in there, all the players down to the staff, you know how it is after a game. And that’s the first time I ever saw that.”
“Like trainers, everybody’s in there. We close the doors. We don’t let anybody know what’s going on in here. But that’s the first time he opened that door. We see Pop come in, and it’s like,” said Fox before sharing a look with the former NBA players as though they knew what to expect from the legendary former head coach in that situation.
T-Mac: “Has Pop come in that locker room and say he needs some nastiness outta y’all?”
Fox: “We lost Game 3… but that was the first time he walked into the locker room and was like “Nah, that’s BS.. that’s not how we play basketball” and obviously he had some choice words for… pic.twitter.com/Qya65fkyuR
— Bala (@BalaPattySZN) May 25, 2026
Clearly, whatever the legendary coach Popovich said to the young team and coaching staff resonated with them to the point that everyone turned up the intensity tonight to ensure that Game 4 doesn’t slip away from their hands.
The 77-year-old Spurs president’s history of yelling at superstars goes all the way to David Robinson. Charles Barkley even recently recalled that coach Popovich used to yell at Tim Duncan.
And now, Victor Wembanyama has also received the famous words from Popovich that have fueled greatness in the past. Coach Popovich has been personally mentoring his young star player, Wembanyama, through his first postseason run. It will be interesting to see what Wembanyama has to say about this incident.
But as for the rest of the Spurs franchise, the President’s scolding has become a fuel of motivation to be elite. Let’s see if his words have inspired this young team to stun the defending champions at Oklahoma in Game 5 on Tuesday, May 26.
