Spurs’ Popovich Says ‘We Are Rome,’ Joins Coaches Van Gundy, Kerr In Slamming Trump Victory

Of all the coaches in the NBA, among the more straightforward and incisively reticent is San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich; but the election of Republican candidate Donald Trump to the presidency apparently triggered a release to whatever governs the man’s reluctance to indulge in public speaking. In so doing, he became the latest NBA head coach to sound off negatively on the Trump victory, Trump the candidate and president-elect, and the people that would elect such a man president.

The Chicago Tribune reported Friday that Gregg Popovich, just prior to leading his team out to play the Detroit Pistons, told reporters in a rare verbal outpouring that he found the idea of Donald Trump being the next president of the United States “disgusting” and that he fears for the future of the country, stating comparatively that his greatest fear was “we are Rome.” The 67-year-old Air Force veteran said he was “sick to his stomach” about the election, and not because the Republicans had won, but because of the “tone” of Trump’s campaign.

“Right now I’m just trying to formulate thoughts. It’s too early. I’m just sick to my stomach,” Popovich revealed, as can be seen in a full transcript from the San Antonio Express-News. But like flood gates opening, he began to “formulate thoughts” on the spot.

“Not basically because the Republicans won or anything, but the disgusting tenure and tone and all of the comments that have been xenophobic, homophobic, racist, misogynistic.”

“I live in that country where half of the people ignored all of that to elect someone. That’s the scariest part of the whole thing to me. It’s got nothing to do with the environment and Obamacare, and all of the other stuff. We live in a country that ignored all of those values that we would hold our kids accountable for. They’d be grounded for years if they acted and said the things that have been said in that campaign by Donald Trump.”

Popovich then scolded evangelical Christians for ignoring their core values to vote for Trump. And he applauded Republican political leaders Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), Gov. John Kasich (Ohio), and Sen. Lindsey Graham (S.C.) for having “enough fiber and respect for humanity and tolerance for all groups” to stand up to the Republican presidential nominee.

“That’s what worries me. I get it, of course we want to be successful, we’re all going to say that. Everybody wants to be successful, it’s our country, we don’t want it to go down the drain. But any reasonable person would come to that conclusion, but it does not take away the fact that he used that fear-mongering, and all of the comments, from day one, the race-baiting with trying to make Barack Obama, our first black president, illegitimate. It leaves me wondering where I’ve been living, and with whom I’m living.”

He was also critical of those who could “gloss over” all of it and start talking about transitioning, like “we’re all going to be kumbaya now and try to make the country good without talking about any of those things.” To make matters worse, it seemed that Trump might already be backing away from promises made and things said, making the election process a “cynical ” bit of fakery on the billionaire businessman’s part just to get elected.

“And what gets lost in the process are African-Americans, and Hispanics, and women, and the gay population, not to mention the eighth grade developmental stage exhibited by him when he made fun of the handicapped person. I mean, come on. That’s what a seventh grade, eighth grade bully does. And he was elected president of the United States. We would have scolded our kids. We would have had discussions until we were blue in the face trying to get them to understand these things. He is in charge of our country. That’s disgusting.”

It was it this point that a reporter attempted to interject a comment or question, but Coach Popovich had a bit more to say. “I’m not done,” he said, noting that all of the aforementioned outrages were not made up.

“He’s angry at the media because they reported what he said and how he acted,” he went. “That’s ironic to me. It makes no sense. So that’s my real fear, and that’s what gives me so much pause and makes me feel so badly that the country is willing to be that intolerant and not understand the empathy that’s necessary to understand other group’s situations. I’m a rich white guy, and I’m sick to my stomach thinking about it. I can’t imagine being a Muslim right now, or a woman, or an African American, a Hispanic, a handicapped person. How disenfranchised they might feel. And for anyone in those groups that voted for him, it’s just beyond my comprehension how they ignore all of that. My final conclusion is, my big fear is — we are Rome.”

Gregg Popovich joined Pistons head coach Stan Van Gundy, who was the first to state his displeasure of the outcome of the 2016 presidential election, and Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, both of whom voiced their condemnation of Trump’s victory earlier in the week.

Van Gundy’s remarks, according to The Nation, were unprovoked. He insisted that there wasn’t anyone that could “deny this guy [Trump] is openly and brazenly racist and misogynistic.” He then said that the country, via the election, had “thrown a good part of our population under the bus” and had declared women (Van Gundy is married and has three daughters) “second-class citizens.”

“What we have done to minorities in this election is despicable.”

Van Gundy went on to say that the United States could no longer presume to hold other nations accountable for human rights violations.

“We just elected an openly, brazen misogynist leader and we should keep our mouths shut and realize that we need to be learning maybe from the rest of the world, because we don’t got anything to teach anybody.”

Kerr later praised Van Gundy for having the “guts” to speak up. He said that the election had been disappointing, that “the level of decorum, respect and dignity that goes with the election of the presidency… went out the window.” He admitted that such a campaign should have been was predictable, given that pop culture — sports, politics, and entertainment — was saturated with people screaming at each other. And “then all of a sudden you’re faced with a reality that the man who is going to lead you has routinely used racist, misogynistic, insulting words.”

“Just the whole process has left us feeling disgusted and disappointed. I thought we were better than this. I thought The Jerry Springer Show was The Jerry Springer Show. Watching the last debate, Trump would make a crack at Clinton, and you’d hear the fans in the stands ‘Oooooh, oh, no, he didn’t.’ Oh, yes he did. This is a presidential election, not The Jerry Springer Show.”

Donald Trump’s surprising victory over Democratic Party hopeful Hillary Clinton left more than those in the sports world frustrated and disappointed. Millions throughout the U.S. have taken to the streets to protest Trump’s election.

[Featured Image by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images]