Gregg Popovich is generally a man of few words, a brand he’s done nothing but cultivate via constant brevity within his on-court interviews.
So when that reserved facade breaks down, it’s always a fun departure. And boy did that facade recede Thursday night, when Popovich had a few harsh words for an official.
Let’s take a look:
Spurs' Gregg Popovich gets ejected ("You're a terrible referee") and gets standing ovation from AT&T Center crowd pic.twitter.com/bEZP8WP8qf
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) January 20, 2017
You may have missed my favorite part of the video, because I almost did at first, too. But check out Emmanuel Mudiay’s reaction:
Emmanuel Mudiay gets the assist on the Popovich ejection pic.twitter.com/AHiHTCENLw
— Fastbreak Breakfast (@fastbreakbreak) January 20, 2017
He gave him the heave-ho! That’s a young player move.
Gif form:
Mudiay playing with fire ejecting Pop (via @BenGolliver) pic.twitter.com/0monD2EEze
— CJ Fogler (@cjzero) January 20, 2017
Lip readers can probably have a field day with that particular clip. Pop generally gets ejected once or twice a season, so it shouldn’t come as too big of a surprise. Maybe it’s a sort of serenity now situation, and he just bottles everything up.
If that’s the case, and he teaches that philosophy to his players, imagine how big Tim Duncan’s eventual explosion is going to be.