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Gregg Popovich is known on the court for his no-nonsense approach to the game of basketball. But he's earned a reputation off-the-court over the past few years as a sociopolitical voice, speaking his thoughts on the events of the day and the issues he believes are affecting America today. His comments this Martin Luther King Jr. Day were no different.
He extensively gave his thoughts on the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. as well as what he would think about the political climate of today.
“(It’s significant) for all the reasons that history tells us so, but … it’s even more meaningful and appropriate because of the lack of leadership we seem to have in the world right now,” Popovich said in a quote obtained by Express News. “I can't imagine what this great man would be thinking today if he were here watching the gutting of the Voting Rights Act and all the other things that have brought a lot of people out from under rocks that we never knew existed, but maybe it made us smarter. They're there. I'm still amazed at how many people buy in.”
Pop on book banning culture and the anti-woke brigade: pic.twitter.com/N7sQK0sZ9b
— Michael C. Wright (@mikecwright) January 15, 2024
He then spoke about “anti-woke culture” and legislation banning books such as what is permitted in Florida’s HB 1069 bill that was passed last July, per comments obtained by NBA.com Senior Writer Mike C. White.
“These days and in our situation for a long time, we've gotten a lot more satisfaction out of our jobs in San Antonio. I think that's gone across the league as time has gone on, by making sure we're spending time with the players, with lessons in history about people, about events, things that have happened because I think it's been missed to a great degree. I mean, even black friends that I know would say, ‘I didn't know such and such until I was 32 years old! Well, it didn't get taught to any of us, black or white for a very long time. So it's not a surprise.”
Popovich continued, “But now that we have this book-banning culture rising up, it has to be fought because if we don't fight it, if we don't inform, teach off the court, basketball stuff doesn't mean much. But off the court it's important because there's a void there and it's an intentional void at this point. So we can't let it become normal. When it becomes normal, then we've got real problems. And I think that's the goal in a lot of ways, to change the status quo of, so-called ‘woke.’ Woke ain't bad. Woke means you're alive. It means you're paying attention. Now, some people can overdo it in a certain degree in a certain way. But in general, woke should be a positive term that I know what's going on. I'm not going to stand for it, I'm going to fight it. It's not right.”
Popovich’s comments aren’t off-brand for him. has been vocal about several social & political issues such as mass shootings, and voting rights and even directed criticism at former Auburn head coach and current Alabama senator Tommy Tubervile who blocked Senate confirmation of military promotions over a Pentagon policy ensuring abortion access for service members. Tubervile ended his block of most military promotions in December, only promising to hold up appointments of senior generals.
The Spurs play the Celtics on Wednesday at 7:30 PM EST.
