Throughout his career, Gregg Popovich has been used to winning, he hasn’t often found himself in losing positions. Since Kawhi Leonard left, while the San Antonio Spurs haven’t necessarily been the best, the feeling of getting blown out isn’t something that the winningest coach in NBA history is used to at this point.
On top of this, Coach Pop has never really been afraid to speak his mind either. If Pop doesn’t like something, the person involved is going to hear about it, and that includes match officials. If someone the stature of Tony Parker could get regular earfuls from Gregg Popovich, then referees are unlikely to be spared, especially when he’s already in a foul mood.
An example of this occurred on Friday night, when the Spurs faced off against the New Orleans Pelicans, who blew them out, starting early in the game. San Antonio was down by 24 points in the 2nd quarter when Pop got mad about some calls and started letting the official know about it. He was quickly issued 2 technical fouls and tossed for the game, but as he went out, Pop hilariously winked, which was caught on camera.
The Spurs aren’t likely to make the play-in at this point and so in the grand scheme of things, this doesn’t matter too much, but it simply isn’t in Coach Pop’s nature to back down when he thinks his team is being wronged. The wink is also a funny example of his personality, even though he was irate about being thrown out, Popovich is rarely ever out of control.
It remains to be seen how long Coach Pop will remain in his current position in the NBA, especially now that he holds the record for most wins, but whenever he does go, epic moments like this are an excellent example of the sort of fiery personality that the NBA will be losing.
