It is well known that San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich can be a tough interview on the sideline. He has a sense of humor that does not always mesh with the traditional side of sideline reporting.
His interviews are usually short, basic, to the point answers without much insight. He will give you a simple reason to a detailed question, for example suggesting that his team is not winning because they are making less shots than the opposing team.
The video below gives you one example of one of Popovich's teeth pulling interviews.
One reporter is putting her foot down now about it, because she wants the same professional courtesy that she gives. ESPN NBA sideline reporter Doris Burke is tired of Popovich’s short to the point answers, and she wants him to stop.
In an interview with New York Magazine, Burke admitted some intimate about her view on sideline reporting, as a results of Popovich giving her one word answers
which she says led her to:
Yeah, and me choking back tears?
yes, yes, displaying a level of strength and a lack of vulnerability, because that’s what a prerequisite of the job is, when, in actuality, all of the things that make us human will help us do that job better. I’ve been expressing my vulnerability because it’s the truth. I was literally on the verge of tears. And my take on that Popovich situation has changed.
We all used to give him a pass because he would say to us privately, ‘Well, I just can’t help myself. I’m in the game, and this is my job.' But I don’t give him a pass anymore. It now frustrates me to the point where I want to say, ‘I’m not giving you a pass because I’ve seen you when Jeff Van Gundy walks over there, and the interaction is totally different'.
Burke doesn’t feel the exact same respect that Pop gives to colleagues in his coaching fraternity ranks, and doesn't feel he deserves to continue what she prospectively feels is a sexism angle of the entertainment industry. Not being treated completely equal being a woman, but also learning what it takes to operate in an environment where the demographic is really only looking for visual entertainment, not necessarily how much you know.
Burke feels it has become an annoyance to be on the receiving end of constant uninspired responses. If there is ever an end to the short sarcastic answers by Popovich at any moment, Burke, who seems to love to set a precedence for others after her to succeed, will likely be leading the way.
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