Gregg Popovich condemns war in Ukraine: 'Any sane individual would be traumatized' / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: AP – Scanpix Credit AP – Scanpix

Gregg Popovich has always been outspoken when it came to issues outside of basketball. Thus, with the war going on in Ukraine, the winningest coach in NBA history couldn't stay silent.

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The longtime San Antonio Spurs coach made a comprehensive comment before the game against the Warriors at Chase Center.

"It's been hard to even think about basketball, to be honest with you," Popovich said, addressing the issue.

"I'm actually glad that stuff's on TV," he added, referring to the images of human casualties, buildings, and properties being destroyed and families torn apart.

He even compared the news coverage of the war in Ukraine to the way media covered the Vietnam War back in the 1960s and 70s.

"When things started to come on TV about Vietnam, that's when it changed. People didn't know what the hell was going on in Vietnam with all the lies we were told and all the atrocities all over the place, back and forth," said Popovich.

A graduate of the Air Force Academy who majored in Soviet studies, the Spurs' coach speaks Russian and was a United States intelligence officer.

"Here, any sane individual would be traumatized by what they're seeing. It's still impossible for us to imagine. We can't feel what it would be like to drive your wife and daughter or son to the border and say goodbye and know you're going to go back and die. Because the Russians are going to pull this bullshit."

The 73-year-old of Serbo-Croatian heritage also condemned the practices used by American politicians, such as Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, that seem to be exploiting the recent developments.

"Those are the people who really make me sick," he said. "For political or personal reasons, they're willing to jump on the Putin bandwagon and use that. Guys like Cruz and Hawley. You can go down the list. They're just despicable people for even thinking about saying the things they've said."

But Popovich also had something to say about the big media outlets in the USA, calling them "lickspittles".

"And then you've got the people at Fox News that I won't even name. They know what they're saying. They're highly intelligent people. But they're still willing to do it. They're just lickspittles of the highest order."

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