Popovich’s message falls on deaf ears
Gregg Popovich came up short. The entire NBA did, really, and it wasn’t even close.
Last summer, Popovich proclaimed his hope that the league would be “a great example for the rest of the country” in terms of sticking to a plan, and taking threats seriously, and making responsible decisions. If NBA teams could make it safely to the Finals, the rest of us could find a way to make it safely to a vaccine.
But Popovich couldn’t convince us to listen. He clearly didn’t plead with us hard enough, and neither did anybody else in the bubble, because instead of masking up and emulating Doc Rivers, too many of us chose to make like Lou Williams, blowing off the rules and ignoring the consequences, while sneaking into the club for some chicken wings.
And now, as the NBA prepares to venture into the real world at a time when nationwide COVID-19 positivity rates, hospitalizations and weekly death totals are higher than they were when the league created its bubble five months ago, Popovich is among those forced to concede a measure of defeat on behalf of reason, on behalf of consideration and on behalf of the supposed better angels of our nature.
“I’m disappointed in the fiber of our populous, I guess is the best way to put it,” the 71-yearold Spurs coach said during a Zoom interview Monday. “We are still in more of an instant gratification country (and) think about ourselves more than the group, more than the community. It’s just beyond my comprehension how somebody can talk about (how) not wearing a mask shows that you’re for freedom and you are for America and you are for personal choice, when it has nothing to do with that intellectually, philosophically, emotionally.”
See, he never had a chance. The people he’s trying to convert there are the same ones who couldn’t get through that paragraph without their blood boiling, or without screaming Popovich should shut up and stick to basketball, or without declaring that they’re darn sure not going to take life lessons from an old leftist coot who couldn’t even manage to coach his team to a 23rd consecutive playoff berth.
At one point, Popovich even had a naive dream about a country uniting for a common goal the same way great basketball teams do.
He’s still trying to believe in that, but it’s getting harder.
“All it is, is we are all in this together,” Popovich said. “We are all in the mud. We are trying to save each other’s ass. But a large group of people can’t project and go beyond themselves in that sense, and that’s very disappointing, and I think it’s sad for the country.”
He should have seen this coming all along, just like he should have anticipated Derek Fisher’s 0.4-second jumper and Ray Allen’s 3-pointer from the corner, right? He wanted the NBA to provide America with an example of how to fight a pandemic, but he missed a blatantly obvious truth, which is that a large number of us have no interest in fighting the pandemic at all.
So when he describes all of the ways the country he served in the Air Force should be doing better, he’s naturally dismissed as un-American and out of touch, and it’s a wonder why he doesn’t just give this whole thing up.
“I think it’s always best to be optimistic,” Popovich said, “because without hope, that’s a pretty depressing existence.”
But he knows now the league isn’t going to become a grand inspiration. He knows people who don’t listen to CDC recommendations aren’t likely to take any cues from NBA safety protocols. He knows when he rips into the president, and says we should “hope he doesn’t burn the whole thing down on his way out,” he’s not getting any closer to winning over hearts and minds.
Popovich wanted the NBA to be an example for the country, and that effort failed because he and the league made one big mistake.
They overestimated us.