Spurs’ Popovich calls today’s NBA stars spoiled. ‘How can they complain about anything?’
San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich is famously opinionated and unafraid to tell reporters exactly what he thinks on a topic, whether it be the state of today’s politics or NBA rules.
Before the Spurs’ game against the Dallas Mavericks Monday night at American Airlines Center he was asked how the league’s superstars are different than a decade or so ago.
After complimenting the skills and size of today’s players, he reminded reporters how it used to be for NBA players, not just the stars.
“We are all way more spoiled than we used to be,” Popovich said. “Nobody gets up at four or five in the morning to get on a plane to go to a city or anything like that. We don’t fly commercial or those sorts of things and there’s meals everywhere. Every time you turn around there’s a meal. It’s unbelievable.”
Popovich said former players from another era “shake their heads.”
“What are these guys doing? How can they complain about anything? The style and the ease with which we have to do our job is much easier than it used to be,” he said.
Popovich, of course, said most of this with a twinkle in his eye, but he was no doubt speaking the truth as he sees it.
This story was originally published November 18, 2019 at 7:56 PM.
