Pop has earned his respect, but he’s not infallible, and I think he was wrong here. Fans boo visiting players all the time and as long as the fans aren’t doing anything excessive like throwing objects or yelling derogatory stuff, fair game. And if he actually thought telling 17,000 people to stop booing was going to quiet the crowd, I don’t know what to say.
The odd explanation in the postgame presser of “not poking the bear” made no sense. Fans have booed Kobe, LeBron, Dirk, Durant, Doncic among others over the years. Why wasn’t he worried about “poking the bear” those times?
Pop still has my respect for everything he’s done on and off the court, but I’m not going to nod my head automatically in agreement on everything he does just because it’s Pop. And I think this was one time where discretion should’ve been the better part of valor, at least in the time and place of it.
Pop has earned his respect, but he’s not infallible, and I think he was wrong here. Fans boo visiting players all the time and as long as the fans aren’t doing anything excessive like throwing objects or yelling derogatory stuff, fair game. And if he actually thought telling 17,000 people to stop booing was going to quiet the crowd, I don’t know what to say.
The odd explanation in the postgame presser of “not poking the bear” made no sense. Fans have booed Kobe, LeBron, Dirk, Durant, Doncic among others over the years. Why wasn’t he worried about “poking the bear” those times?
Pop still has my respect for everything he’s done on and off the court, but I’m not going to nod my head automatically in agreement on everything he does just because it’s Pop. And I think this was one time where discretion should’ve been the better part of valor, at least in the time and place of it.