Gregg Popovich speaks. The Spurs organization does not.
The unacknowledged tension between Pop and his boss remains one of the NBA's more fascinating subplots.
Good morning. Let’s basketball.
Gregg Popovich called The Nation’s Dave Zirin to unload on police brutality in America, President Trump’s leadership failure and the importance of being a part of the change to come. It’s a cup of strong Popovichian hellfire. The comments about Trump have been shared most widely — Pop calls the President “a deranged idiot” — but there are a few other comments that caught my attention, particularly this one:
“In the end, what we have is a fool in place of a president, while the person who really runs the country, Senator Mitch McConnell, destroys the United States for generations to come. McConnell has destroyed and degraded our judicial system. He has tried to destroy health care. He’s destroyed the environment. He’s the master and Trump’s the stooge, and what’s funny is that Trump doesn’t even know it. Trump’s always wanted to be part of the in-group, but McConnell is an in-group of one and Trump plays the fool.”
This isn’t a specific critique on Trump’s tone, decency or lack of leadership, like you hear from some other prominent sports people. This is a searing critique of the modern Republican Party, its politics and its policies. It’s specific and cutting.
Meanwhile, the San Antonio Spurs — the NBA team of which Popovich is the head coach, team president and face — are one of two teams that have not said a word about the killing of George Floyd and the ensuing protests against police violence.
The other team is the New York Knicks. Jim Dolan explained to team employees on Monday why the Knicks are not joining the vast majority of NBA teams and brands in making even a perfunctory nod toward the fight for justice. Dolan writes to employees that as a sports and entertainment company, MSG is “not any more qualified than anyone else to offer our opinion on social matters.” This has not in the past stopped the Knicks from capitalizing on social matters to sell tickets. Alas. Dolan is an idiot. What are you gonna do?
The Spurs, though, have Popovich. And some outspoken, thoughtful players like DeMar DeRozan, Rudy Gay and Lonnie Walker. But they also have Julianna Hawn Holt, the franchise governor and perhaps the biggest Trump backer in the entire NBA.
(That’s Julianna Hawn Holt’s official portrait on the Spurs’ website.)
Holt took over as the CEO of the Spurs from her husband Peter Holt in 2016. In 2018, the couple divorced. Julianna Holt remains in charge of the Spurs. Per Open Secrets, Holt has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Republican campaigns and committees across the nation since 2016.
Holt is quiet, private, never quoted and rarely photographed. She might be one of the most anonymous NBA franchise owners in the league, especially as one of very few franchisees who isn’t a white male. But she sure wields her political influence to help Mitch McConnell stay in power. She wielded her political influence to help get Trump elected. I’ll bet you she’s wielding her political influence to help get Trump re-elected and to help McConnell maintain his status in the majority in the Senate.
Holt has not silenced Popovich. I mean, it would be wholly idiotic to try to muzzle a figure like Pop. I suspect Popovich would immediately quit if Holt told him to pipe down. To my knowledge, Pop has never said a word publicly about Holt’s bankrolling of the Republican Party and specific politicians he speaks out against. I don’t feel he should be obligated to do so.
But this bizarre, unacknowledged dichotomy feels important in some way, like it speaks to the parallel realities we see throughout American society these days. Popovich and Holt are really powerful figures in a major San Antonio brand, one in the vocal opposition to the Republican regime and the other bankrolling that regime. It’s weird, and we should acknowledge that it’s weird. And the Spurs as an organization, led by Holt, should absolutely not get a pass for failing to make even the most basic effort to acknowledge righteous anger gripping the nation.
James Dolan deserves your shame and ridicule for many, many reasons. Julianna Holt deserves at minimum the same level of attention for the Spurs’ silence.
Links
Some franchisees really want all 30 teams in Orlando for some reason.
Mike Sykes on generational pain.
How to spot an empty statement from a powerful institution.
Brian Windhorst on the trust built up between Chris Paul and Adam Silver and how that helps.
Statement from the Pelicans. Strongest official statement from any team, specifically calling out the murder of George Floyd.
Royce White has emerged as a protest leader in Minneapolis.
Grant Napear, the play-by-play voice of the Kings, dropped an All Lives Matter on Twitter on Sunday and folks, it’s not going well for him. I think more important than the All Lives Matter reference he claiming ignorance on is statements from three former Kings on Twitter (DeMarcus Cousins, Chris Webber and Matt Barnes) that indicate players feel Napear is, uh, a problematic. This element of Napear’s personality has been obvious to anyone who listened to his radio show even occasionally over the past 20 years.
Stephen Jackson on embracing a leadership role.
The Next is going to be a great source of women’s basketball news with a great masthead.
Dawn Staley writes that Black people are tired.
NBA players are taking to the streets.
Power Plays has takes from three young, black, female athletes on their experiences.
Be excellent to each other.
This is such a thorough explanation of the inner workings of NBA politics behind those Board of Governors doors. I learned a lot from this and it's why I'll always highly recommend this newsletter to friends. Keep up the great work, Tom - a loyal reader
I had no idea about Ms. Holt. Thanks for revelation. Pop is a mensch period.
I lived in Sac for 25 years. Every radio host associated with Kings coverage was riddled with ignorance and bias when it comes race. None worse than Napear and the execrable "Koz." KHTK knows it's audience well.