During the final pregame press conference of the NBA season, Gregg Popovich, coach of the San Antonio Spurs, went on a lengthy tangent about how disgusted he is with gun control in America, and even labeled the Second Amendment a “myth.” Popovich delivered a nine-minute speech in which he condemned lawmakers who have not taken action to address the issue and urged Americans to do more to protect their communities.
During the press conference, Popovich asked reporters whether any of them were carrying a gun. Then noted that he “wondered because we have a governor and lieutenant governor and an attorney general that made it easier to have more guns.” “That was a response to our kids getting murdered. I just thought that was a little bit strange decision. It’s just me, though,” he added.
He also criticized Tennessee state lawmakers who voted for the expulsion of two state representatives, calling their actions “cowardly” and “shameful.”
“I mean, we’ve got two young Black guys in Tennessee who just got railroaded by a bunch of people that I would bet down deep in their soul want to go back to Jim Crow,” Popovich said. “And what they just did is a good start. It’s beyond comprehension. And what were they guilty of? They actually protested?”
“Those [Tennessee Republican] legislators called those kids that were protesting insurrectionists. That’s hard to believe in America. But America ain’t what we thought America was. It’s changed. So, if those kids are insurrectionists, what were the people on Jan. 6th? What do we call them? What’s the next step or word or level of violence after insurrectionists? I don’t know what it is. What will it take?”
Popovich couldn’t control himself is final press conference, as he continued to attack Republicans and the Second Amendment:
“But they’re going to cloak all this stuff [in] the myth of the Second Amendment, the freedom,” he added. “You know, it’s just a myth. It’s a joke. It’s just a game they play. I mean, that’s freedom. Is it freedom for kids to go to school and try to socialize and try to learn and be scared to death that they might die that day?”
“But Ted Cruz will fix it because he is going to double the number of cops in the schools. That’s what he wants to do. Well, that’ll create a great environment. Is that freedom? Or is it freedom to have a congressman who can make a postcard with all his family holding rifles, including an AR-15 or whatever. Is that cool? Is that like street cred for a Republican? That’s freedom? That’s more important than protecting kids? I don’t get it.”
