Gregg Popovich Teaches, Even When In Mourning

I was listening to The Dan Patrick Show yesterday morning. Brent Barry was on discussing the playoffs. To end the interview, DP asked Barry about San Antonio Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich and the loss of Mrs. Erin Popovich, Coach Pop’s wife. Barry spoke about the impact that  Pop has had on all of the players whom he has coached but he said that Pop’s ethos comes from home. As it does for so many of us. He said that Mrs. Popovich kept coach grounded and was really a team mom for the Spurs.

Brent Barry said something else that was actually quite shocking. He told the listening audience that Pop would routinely tell his players how unimportant basketball was. You read that correctly. An NBA coach spent his time telling his players that what they did for a living – playing basketball – was not all that important. Instead, Pop impressed upon his players that what really mattered were their loved ones as well as the impact that they could have off the court on society and their communities.

Gregg Popovich has become more well-known recently for his outspoken support of racial equality and an end to systemic oppression of people of color. In fact, some San Antonio Spurs fans are so pissed off that Pop would want people’s Constitutional rights to be upheld that they stopped supporting the team. But maybe some of what’s gotten lost in Pop’s recent outspokenness is that Pop is the same guy he’s always been. He’s always supported his players. Why would that ever change? It wouldn’t. Now it’s just more in our faces because of the political times we live in.

When I heard the news of Mrs. Popovich’s passing, I was picturing Pop on the sidelines during Game Three and wondering how on Earth he was going to get through the game. Shame on me. I should have known that Pop would be with his family in a time of mourning, a time when family needs each other most. It reminded me of a night when I got to hear former Vice President Joe Biden speak here in Los Angeles. When asked why he didn’t run for President, Biden responded that he knew he couldn’t be POTUS while grieving. He knew that the grieving process over his son would be horrific, given the losses in his family he’d already suffered. So Biden opted to do what he thought was right for both himself and the country. Something tells me that Biden and Pop would make good friends.

Pop wasn’t going to be on the sidelines grieving during Game Three any more than Biden was going to be grieving in the Oval Office. At a time when basketball would have been such a welcome getaway for Pop, he practiced what he preached. He showed his team and all of us that his family is more important than his job. That’s a message we should all take to heart. Thank you Coach for your example. Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family in this trying time.