By Lewis Gould
San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich (above with Sixers coach Brett Brown, his longtime assistant) says he initially thought about sitting out the NBA restart in Orlando, given his age, but he decided to go because he was confident in the precautions in place and the opportunity to continue conversations around social justice.
“I talked to a lot of people, I talked to [commissioner] Adam [Silver], and you find out pretty quickly what he and his staff of many have gone through to put this thing together,” Popovich said. “I honestly do believe, and it’s not just me being a loyal soldier to the NBA, I’ve done my share of criticizing here and there when I thought it was necessary, but I don’t know where else you would be as safe as we are right now. They can’t spoil us here as much as they usually do, before COVID — we’re pretty spoiled, in all kinds of ways. So we’re not as spoiled now, but it’s good for all of us.”
Popovich, who at 71 is the current oldest coach in the NBA, gave consideration to not joining the Spurs, but he was medically cleared and held his first practice with the full team on Saturday.
