This is a great way to piss off a good chunk of your fan base. And why talk about this at a team press conference, instead of basketball?
San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich attacked Columbus Day on Friday, slamming his “backward†hometown for marking the day while accusing the famed 15th-century explorer of initiating a “new world genocide†and branding Italian-American support for honoring the day akin to Germans “proud of Hitler.â€
After the first-ever presidential proclamation for Indigenous Peoples’ Day — which honors Native American peoples — was issued by President Joe Biden on Friday, Popovich praised the move, which has long been pushed by the left, calling it “appropriate, important, needed and all those sorts of things.â€
Ahead of Friday’s Spurs-Heat preseason matchup, he also expressed confusion over San Antonio’s decision to celebrate the newly-proclaimed day along with the long-observed Columbus Day, claiming he was “a little confused about our city and why it’s [marking] Indigenous Peoples’ Day slash Columbus Day.â€
He then slammed the Italian navigator who is credited with the discovery of North America.
“Columbus?†he asked mockingly. “I mean he initiated a new world genocide; that’s what he did.â€
OK, let’s be honest, what Columbus initiated was not good. Dude was only trying to find a passage to Asia, but, caused a lot more. But, unhinged rants like this really doesn’t help the case, especially when we’re talking about something that happened 500 years ago, in a completely different time
Calling it “no knock on Italian Americans,†he then equated support for marking Columbus Day with pride in Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.
“That’s a silly argument,†he said. “It’s like saying we should be proud of Hitler because we’re German.â€
“I mean it makes no sense,†he added. “It’s about Columbus, it’s not about Italian Americans.â€
So, he’s calling Italian-Americans horrible people for supporting Columbus Day. How about just shutting up and coaching? Interestingly, for all of Popovich’s unhinged rants against Trump and Republicans, calls for defunding the police (who provide protection for him, the players, and the arena), support of the violent BLM folks, and more, yet, never has a bad word to say about China. It’s almost like he and the NBA are in the pockets of a genocidal, repressive, dictatorial country due to endorsements and shoe deals and such.
Read: Columbus Day Hot Take: Italian-Americans Supporting It Is Like Germans Supporting Hitler »