‘They’re cowards.’ NBA coach Gregg Popovich slams Texas leaders over COVID-19 response
San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich has never been one to shy away from speaking his mind on social and political matters.
His latest commentary chided Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick for their handling of the coronavirus pandemic in the Lone Star State.
During a Wednesday video presser with the media, Popovich called out Patrick first, criticizing the lieutenant governor’s comments about Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert. Patrick, who was a conservative radio talk show host before being elected to public office, recently told Fox News that Fauci “doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”
“We have a lieutenant governor who decided he doesn’t want to listen to Fauci and those people any more,” Popovich said. “That makes a lot of sense. How safe can that be? The messaging is ridiculous.”
The coach, who was wearing a black shirt donning the words “Vote: your life depends on it”, then pivoted his focus toward Abbott.
“The governor goes back and forth based on whether he has to satisfy Trump or listen to the numbers — politics show maybe he better do this because the virus has done that,” Popovich said. “But no overall policy, no principle. It’s all about politics. It’s all about what’s good for them, and ‘them’ means Trump. Because they’re all cowards, and they’re all afraid.”
John Wittman, the governor’s spokesperson, told the Austin-American Statesman that Abbott “has no plans to respond” to Popvich’s comments.
Patrick’s office did not respond to an email from McClatchy News for comment.
The legendary coach has long been a critic of President Donald Trump, and he’s not afraid to comment on social issues, from the NFL’s handling of Colin Kapernick’s kneeling during the national anthem to the death of George Floyd while in the custody of Minneapolis police.
Last month he called Floyd’s death “a lynching,” saying “I’m just embarrassed as a white person to know that that can happen,” The Associated Press reported, according to the Capital Gazette.
On Wednesday, Popovich also talked about the rise of COVID-19 cases in Florida, where on Sunday the state annihilated the record for new daily coronvirus cases in any state with more than 15,000 cases reported, the New York Times said.
And even though NBA teams are training in “the bubble” at Disney World in Florida, he said he feels safe.
“The bubble is not Florida,” Popovich said. “The bubble is one of the safest places you can be. Especially compared to outside the bubble in Arizona or Texas or Florida.”