{"id":348682,"date":"2023-11-23T06:15:03","date_gmt":"2023-11-23T07:15:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=348682"},"modified":"2023-11-23T08:01:45","modified_gmt":"2023-11-23T08:01:45","slug":"nba-coach-turns-on-fans-over-treatment-of-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=348682","title":{"rendered":"NBA coach turns on fans over treatment of star"},"content":{"rendered":"

San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich<\/a> grabbed the microphone and chastised the crowd at the Frost Bank Center on Thursday AEDT, telling fans to stop booing former Spurs All-Star Kawhi Leonard<\/a> and the Los Angeles Clippers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cExcuse me for a second,\u201d Popovich said, silencing the crowd late in the first half. \u201cCan we stop all the booing and let these guys play? Have a little class. It\u2019s not who we are. Knock off the booing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leonard had 24 points as the Clippers beat San Antonio 109-102, handing the Spurs their 10th straight loss.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI thought that was an awesome moment, despite the fans booing, I think, even more,\u201d Clippers star Paul George said. \u201cI think that was a hell of a moment, Pop having Kawhi\u2019s back in that situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Kawhi<\/p>\n

Leonard has been jeered by Spurs fans since he demanded a trade and was dealt from San Antonio to the Toronto Raptors on July 18, 2018.<\/p>\n

Leonard became the Spurs' best player as the Big Three era of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili was ending. The forward was voted NBA Finals MVP after the Spurs\u2019 final championship in 2014.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s bittersweet in Kawhi\u2019s situation,\u201d George said. \u201cHe\u2019s hung championship banners here and been a part of winning teams. Regardless of the situation, this sucks to give an organisation something and a city something and for that to be, at this point, the treatment you still get. It\u2019s unfortunate but that\u2019s what makes sports, sports.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fans booed as Leonard stood at the free throw line following a foul by Spurs forward Keldon Johnson with 3:08 remaining in the first half. Popovich then walked over and grabbed the public address microphone.<\/p>\n

\"Gregg<\/p>\n

Popovich was asked afterwards what his intended message was to the crowd.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I think anybody that knows anything about sports, you don\u2019t poke the bear,\u201d Popovich said.<\/p>\n

When asked if he didn\u2019t want the booing to motivate Leonard, Popovich repeated his answer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI spoke English,\u201d Popovich said. \u201cI just told you, anybody that knows anything about sports knows you don\u2019t poke the bear. That\u2019s my answer.\u201d<\/p>\n

After an initial stunned silence following Popovich\u2019s words, the crowd began booing even louder in response. Leonard would face a cascade of more vociferous jeers but made both free throws.<\/p>\n

\"Kawhi<\/p>\n

The booing continued each time Leonard touched the ball and extended to James Harden and other players from the Clippers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I don\u2019t have a Spurs jersey on, they are probably going to boo me for the rest of my career,\u201d Leonard said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is what it is. They are one 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\u2019m on the streets or going into a restaurant, they show love. It is what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fans showered Leonard with thunderous jeers in his initial return to San Antonio following his trade to Toronto. The booing has lessened over the years with some fans cheering when he was announced at last year\u2019s game.<\/p>\n

\"Kawhi<\/p>\n

Leonard said after Monday night\u2019s game, which the Clippers won 124-99 to extend the Spurs\u2019 losing streak to nine, that he heard some cheers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, it was a little bit 50-50 tonight,\u201d Leonard said. \u201cI heard some cheers and some boos. But like I\u2019ve said before, it\u2019s a competitive fan base. They want to win every game, so once I come to the game, there\u2019s going to be some boos. But walking around in the city, or restaurants, they show love.\u201d<\/p>\n

Popovich\u2019s actions were reminiscent of former Indiana Hoosiers coach Bobby Knight taking to the microphone to berate fans for their actions during their matchup with Michigan State on Jan. 21, 1989.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t care what the quality of the officiating is, we don\u2019t throw things in here,\u201d Knight said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich grabbed the microphone and chastised the crowd at the Frost Bank Center on Thursday AEDT, telling fans to stop booing […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":348684,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348682"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=348682"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348682\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":348689,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348682\/revisions\/348689"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/348684"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=348682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=348682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=348682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}