The Spurs took a tenth-straight loss. The Clippers were in town for a few days with Kawhi leading his struggling band of all-stars and former MVPs to try to make a super-team run. The fans booed Kawhi every time he touched the ball, in an on-going sports feud with a guy who left the squad.
Sports is emotional. Part of the fun is caring about a group of strangers and their accomplishments even though you will never really and truly know them. David Robinson, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Avery Johnson, Sean Elliott, Tony Parker, Matt Bonner, Ice Man, and so on and so forth. Last year they paraded the former Spurs out for the 50th season celebration and talked up all the Spurs times in front of the fans.
The real-life stuff is probably more interesting but would shatter the fun. In wrestling the idea of “kayfabe” was to sell the feuds and the fights as real. It was part of the business. In reality, often the rivals were often friends. The friends were actually rivals and so on and so forth.
Kawhi Leonard plays basketball for a living. He had no connection to San Antonio, but was drafted here. He developed and worked and won a championship as the primary defender and up-and-comer on the 2014 squad. He then wanted to leave. The Spurs traded him so they didn’t lose him for nothing. He won a title in Toronto, then left for the Clippers.
Spurs fans were upset with Kawhi wanting to leave — but again, in a sports way. I don’t know the dude. I don’t want his life to be bad or anything. I can want him to miss basketball shots. I can boo his performance when he is in San Antonio. That is part of the fun. It is the flip side of cheering. Why cheer the basketball anyway? It is just as stupid and silly and meaningless in any direction.
Pop got on a mic and said “Stop all the bull. That’s not who we are. Quit the booing”.
He justified it with an additional “don’t poke the bear”.
Look, Pop is a respected figure and his opinion about a lot of things carries a lot of weight. He has heard over 50 years of fans shouting the stupidest and the cleverest of things night after night as a coach of varying levels of reputation. I’m sure it was because of the booing affecting him and not so much it affecting Kawhi. In the post-game locker-room, Leonard said he would likely be booed the rest of his career by “some of the best fans in the league” and that when people see him in the streets “it’s all love”. Seems like he gets it.
So why did Pop take the mic? I can’t know. I don’t think it was "bear-poking”. Pop is famous for his long-lasting relationships with his players and it seems like he just didn’t like seeing one of his (former) guys get booed yet another night. It’s funny, because he doesn’t mind bitching them out with the most violent, red-faced, expletive tirades. But a little voicing of disapproval is beyond the pale for him.
It is just a reminder that Pop, like us, is just human and prone to contradictions. Pop let his emotions get the better of him. Maybe he should go to a game and boo the opponent to get the emotions out. It is fun.
Go ahead and boo.