There are many great franchises in the NBA, and the San Antonio Spurs is unarguably one of them. The organization may have had a low-key environment and focused on nothing but playing basketball. The epitome of that culture is the presence of head coach Gregg Popovich.
Popovich is regarded as one of the best coaches in the history of the NBA, and for many, he is the best. But that isn’t certainly what former NBA player Stephen Jackson thinks. Jackson previously revealed his problems with Popovich and the Spurs. Now, he further talked about it and how Mike Brown protected him from Popovich.
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Dejounte Murray spoke about how the Spurs tried to ‘break him.’ i asked @DaTrillStak5 if that happens more often than not with ‘problem players.’ his response? — ‘only in San Antonio.’
he also shared how Mike Brown protected him aganist Gregg Popovich.https://t.co/08ZORWYQLl pic.twitter.com/EmTZbOmyeA
— Ashley Nicole Moss (@AshNicoleMoss) January 31, 2023
“With me, I was in a position where I was raw. Still smoking weed, sipping syrup all season, but still balling while I’m doing all that. I was a little edgy like when Pop was trying to take me out of the game when I didn’t even do nothing to see if I will blow up on the sideline. I’m not the person for that. Before I even make it to my seat I’m gonna let you know, what the f**k is you doing? That’s me. That didn’t sit too well with Pop.”
Jackson added, “He assigned the black coach, Mike Brown, at the time. He’s the head coach for Sacramento Kings now. He assigned him to me, so every time I came out of the game, he sent Mike down there. I had a lot of respect for Mike because that’s how I got to San Antonio. So Mike used to come down, and I’m looking at Mike like, ‘Mike don’t come down here.’ I’m about to tell him sometime like, ‘I know what you are doing Mike. Not today. I’m gonna go off for you a** too.’ So he would just stand in front of me so Pop couldn’t read my mouth and hear what I’m saying. So he was really looking out for me.”
Players and coaches sharing different opinions is nothing new in the NBA. That’s not the surprising part about Jackson’s revelation. However, prior to sharing the Mike Brown story, Stephen revealed some details about his time with the Spurs, where he even said that he used to regularly smoke weed and drink syrup.
Stephen Jackson Takes A Shot At Gregg Popovich
Being an athlete in the NBA requires the utmost discipline and professionalism to succeed. But it is evident from Jackson’s interview that he didn’t believe in those ethics. On top of that, he took a shot at Popovich for being overly reliant on NBA legend Tim Duncan.
“Only in San Antonio,” Jackson said if any team tried to break him. “That’s the only place I’ve been through that. I think they had a way they did things and Pop was just stuck in his ways with San Antonio. I mean he knew, I’m gonna have success as long as Tim’s here. Once Tim leaves. Over. We knew that as players, I just think that he had to put some guys around Tim to make the vision come complete.”
Jackson may have had differences with coach Pop, but in no way he was in the right place to be angry. After all, the environment in the locker room must have been incredibly weird if a player showed up after smoking weed and drinking alcohol throughout the season.
I, for one, believe the way that Popovich treated Jackson was correct, considering his antics. Had he been disciplined and professional and still got treated badly by coach Pop then his anger would have made sense.
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