Before San Antonio Spurs took on the Utah Jazz Monday, Feb. 12, Coach Gregg Popovich was asked about the importance of Black History Month in the NBA. Popovich, now known to freely speak his mind on political issues, did not disappoint. “The league is made up of a lot of black guys,” he began. “To honor [Black History Month] and understand it is pretty simplistic. How would you ignore that? But more importantly, we live in a racist country that hasn’t figured it out yet.” Pop continued “It’s always important to bring attention to it, even if it angers some people. The point is that you have to keep it in front of everybody’s nose so that they understand it, that it still hasn’t been taken care of, and we have a lot of work to do.”
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich on why it's important for the NBA to promote Black History Month: "We live in a racist country… And it's always important to bring attention to it, even if it angers some people." pic.twitter.com/RCCs7rSJix
— ABC News (@ABC) February 13, 2018
This isn’t the first time the Spurs coach spoke out against the mistreatment of Black people. In fact, when he was asked last year about Black History Month he had an equally fiery response.
According to ESPN, Popovich responded at the time saying, “It’s a celebration of some of the good things that have happened and a reminder that there’s a lot more work to do. But more than anything, I think if people take the time to think about it, I think it is our national sin. It always intrigues me when people come out with, ‘I’m tired of talking about that,’ or ‘Do we have to talk about race again?’ And the answer is you’re damned right we do. Because it’s always there, and it’s systemic in the sense that when you talk about opportunity it’s not about, ‘Well, if you lace up your shoes and you work hard, then you can have the American dream.’
