Gregg Popovich stuns NBA TV reporter with fake-surly interview
San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich is best known for two things — serving as one of the best coaches in basketball history and giving notoriously surly and terse interviews to media members. The latter has become part of the five-time champion’s charm, to the point where it can be disappointing when he answers a question with a multi-clause sentence or two. Even most reporters seem to expect a rough interview when they put a microphone in front of Popovich’s face.
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That preparation put NBA TV’s Jared Greenberg in a tough spot at the Spurs’ preseason media day on Monday. Perhaps hoping for a more talkative Pop, the reporter readied several questions regarding the addition of All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge and the challenges of turning a collection of excellent players into a championship-winning team.
Greenberg did not get Popovich at his most forthcoming. In fact, this interview was especially awkward for 75 seconds. Until, that is, the Spurs coach dropped his ruse and told Greenberg that the jokes were over and that he’d be perfectly willing to answer his questions:
Popovich-media standoffs are common enough that this clip wouldn’t be especially notable just for this joke. What makes it truly fantastic is Greenberg’s reaction, because he is pretty clearly not enthused that Popovich put him through a minute-plus of staring into the professional abyss. He was either so stunned as to not know how to proceed or flat-out didn’t like to made into the butt of a joke.
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Greenberg addressed the experience on Twitter and seemed to have shrugged off any discomfort:
The good news is that Popovich indirectly answered his questions about the Spurs’ readiness for the 2015-16 campaign. At the very least, the coach is in midseason form.
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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
