Gregg Popovich 'Felt Badly' By Kawhi Leonard Getting Booed

Post #1 » by **RealGM Wiretap** » Fri Jan 4, 2019 8:02 am

Gregg Popovich stated that he felt badly over how Kawhi Leonard was received by the San Antonio crowd following their 125-107 win versus the Toronto Raptors.

"I felt badly about it. Kawhi's a high-character guy. We all make decisions in our lives with what we're going to do with our futures, and he has that same right as any of us. So I felt badly, in all honesty," said Popovich.

Leonard was booed throughout the game, culminating with Spurs fans chanting "traitor" as Leonard shot free-throws in the second quarter.

Leonard finished with 21 points and five assists. He and Popovich embraced following the game.

"I feel good except for losing the game. I'm glad I walked off the floor healthy. We got some things as a team to look at and get better at. But the past is the past and I'm still playing.I really won't reflect on what has happened until I retire. I just try to keep moving and get better on what we are doing," added Leonard.

Via Tim Bontemps/ESPN

d-train · Post #2 » by **d-train** » Fri Jan 4, 2019 8:55 am

Classless behavior by fans. I guess Leonard did nothing in San Antonio worthy of appreciation. Portland would retire his jersey for what he did in San Antonio and I don't consider Blazers fans overly appreciative of players.

CIN-C-STAR · Post #3 » by **CIN-C-STAR** » Fri Jan 4, 2019 9:09 am

d-train wrote:Classless behavior by fans. I guess Leonard did nothing in San Antonio worthy of appreciation. Portland would retire his jersey for what he did in San Antonio and I don't consider Blazers fans overly appreciative of players.

Please.
The way he quit on the team and demanded out through rumors and speculation to the media without ever bothering to issue any kind of statement explaining himself, and the way he never gave any statement of appreciation to the fans or the organization either, he should have expected nothing less.
If he didn't decide to have amateur's handling his career he could have navigated his way out much more amicably if that's what he really wanted, but that's not what he chose. Decisions have consequences.

lonea · Post #4 » by **lonea** » Fri Jan 4, 2019 10:42 am

he didnt quit tho.

he felt the management rushed him from his injuries (pretty serious ones), and that was that.

he also didn't demand anything through rumors and speculation... he wasn't happy about his injury situation but he didn't say one word to the media

whatever you are saying is all based from media itself

CIN-C-STAR wrote:
d-train wrote:Classless behavior by fans. I guess Leonard did nothing in San Antonio worthy of appreciation. Portland would retire his jersey for what he did in San Antonio and I don't consider Blazers fans overly appreciative of players.

Please.
The way he quit on the team and demanded out through rumors and speculation to the media without ever bothering to issue any kind of statement explaining himself, and the way he never gave any statement of appreciation to the fans or the organization either, he should have expected nothing less.
If he didn't decide to have amateur's handling his career he could have navigated his way out much more amicably if that's what he really wanted, but that's not what he chose. Decisions have consequences.

Mase14 · Post #5 » by **Mase14** » Fri Jan 4, 2019 10:53 am

CIN-C-STAR wrote:
d-train wrote:Classless behavior by fans. I guess Leonard did nothing in San Antonio worthy of appreciation. Portland would retire his jersey for what he did in San Antonio and I don't consider Blazers fans overly appreciative of players.

Please.
The way he quit on the team and demanded out through rumors and speculation to the media without ever bothering to issue any kind of statement explaining himself, and the way he never gave any statement of appreciation to the fans or the organization either, he should have expected nothing less.
If he didn't decide to have amateur's handling his career he could have navigated his way out much more amicably if that's what he really wanted, but that's not what he chose. Decisions have consequences.

'Demanded through rumors and media speculation' what a load of garbage.

He didn't need to give any public statement, that was between he and San Antonio. Please give me examples where he 'quit' or demanded any kind of trade.

inquisitive · Post #6 » by **inquisitive** » Fri Jan 4, 2019 12:20 pm

He quit on the team , so this was the result

J_T · Post #7 » by **J_T** » Fri Jan 4, 2019 12:51 pm

Deserved the booing, that's for sure.

BigHustle · Post #8 » by **BigHustle** » Fri Jan 4, 2019 1:13 pm

J_T wrote:Deserved the booing, that's for sure.

YAS, even LBJ is showing up to support his team in streetclothes. KL should’ve showed up on the bench for the playoffs at least.

CeltsfanSinceBirth · Post #9 » by **CeltsfanSinceBirth** » Fri Jan 4, 2019 2:41 pm

What's up with the quotations around 'Felt Badly' in the headline? You guys are making it seem like Pop was being sarcastic when he said it, which he obviously wasn't.

Post #10 » by **Headliner** » Fri Jan 4, 2019 4:17 pm

CeltsfanSinceBirth wrote:What's up with the quotations around 'Felt Badly' in the headline? You guys are making it seem like Pop was being sarcastic when he said it, which he obviously wasn't.

Or the quotations were meant to signify that it was a direct quote.

mickie · Post #11 » by **mickie** » Fri Jan 4, 2019 4:25 pm

Spurs fans are the only ones who believed Kawhi quit on the team. And I've been a long time Spurs fans before i became a Raptors fan. If i was there i would cheer and show appreciation to Kawhi during the callout but as soon as the game started i would be booing him relentlessly because he's the best player in the opposing team NOT because I'm a butthurt fan.

mickie · Post #12 » by **mickie** » Fri Jan 4, 2019 4:30 pm

inquisitive wrote:He quit on the team , so this was the result

Show me clip to prove this claim?

Vince Carter on the way out of Toronto admitted to not performing at a 100% at times coz he wanted out and that's on record but Kawhi never did that nor he came out and threw teammates under the bus in the midst of the firestorm. He kept quiet. Then you see how Pop and him embraced and laugh at the end of the game which means Pop respect what the man did for SA. Of all people, Pop would be the one to know not the internet GMs here nor the butthurt fans.

Barcs · Post #13 » by **Barcs** » Fri Jan 4, 2019 4:46 pm

LOL @ booing the guy that was integral in winning them a title. Spurs fans are just spoiled because they had so much success in the last 20 years, they think it's normal. He didn't quit on the team, he was hurt and they mishandled the injury.

Barcs · Post #14 » by **Barcs** » Fri Jan 4, 2019 4:48 pm

CIN-C-STAR wrote:The way he quit on the team and demanded out through rumors and speculation to the media without ever bothering to issue any kind of statement explaining himself, and the way he never gave any statement of appreciation to the fans or the organization either, he should have expected nothing less.
If he didn't decide to have amateur's handling his career he could have navigated his way out much more amicably if that's what he really wanted, but that's not what he chose. Decisions have consequences.

Media speculation and rumors are literally just that. You have to take em with a grain of salt.

ChuckChilly · Post #15 » by **ChuckChilly** » Fri Jan 4, 2019 4:59 pm

Mase14 wrote:
CIN-C-STAR wrote:
d-train wrote:Classless behavior by fans. I guess Leonard did nothing in San Antonio worthy of appreciation. Portland would retire his jersey for what he did in San Antonio and I don't consider Blazers fans overly appreciative of players.

Please.
The way he quit on the team and demanded out through rumors and speculation to the media without ever bothering to issue any kind of statement explaining himself, and the way he never gave any statement of appreciation to the fans or the organization either, he should have expected nothing less.
If he didn't decide to have amateur's handling his career he could have navigated his way out much more amicably if that's what he really wanted, but that's not what he chose. Decisions have consequences.

'Demanded through rumors and media speculation' what a load of garbage.

He didn't need to give any public statement, that was between he and San Antonio. Please give me examples where he 'quit' or demanded any kind of trade.

The Spurs did not want to trade him and there are even photos of when Pop flew out to try convince him to stay. They even tried to wait it out, and hope that things would cool down, which hurt them when they finally traded him. Although nothing was officially stated it, its pretty obvious that Kawhi did not want to play for the Spurs anymore just from those two things alone.

Galou · Post #16 » by **Galou** » Fri Jan 4, 2019 6:02 pm

The fans are the worst and are gullible sheep. Keep doing your thing kawhi

Johnny Bball · Post #17 » by **Johnny Bball** » Fri Jan 4, 2019 6:19 pm

Booing him is very reasonable. Booing him every time he touches the ball... I can even get with that. Chanting traitor is low class.

As opposed to Pop being all class right here, even though he's probably still a bit hurt by it all.

ontnut · Post #18 » by **ontnut** » Fri Jan 4, 2019 6:25 pm

Raptors fans booed VC who admittedly quit on the team, we even did some VC Sucks chants, but the "traitor" chants was a whole other level by Spurs fans. That was kind of bush league imo. I felt really bad for Kawhi.

ozthegap · Post #19 » by **ozthegap** » Fri Jan 4, 2019 8:40 pm

they're Texans what do you expect? Class?

Cookin Baskets · Post #20 » by **Cookin Baskets** » Fri Jan 4, 2019 10:17 pm

I really could not care of feel bad for the Spurs fans who have had and enjoyed winning seasons the past 20 years. The spurs mishandled an injury and leonard wasn't happy about it. They should take some blame here as an organization for mishandling a star players injury. Leonard made the best decision for himself going forward. Pop is a high class coach and he gets it. Spurs fan be totally overreacting, be happy he helped you win a championship.