Former Spurs coach Gregg Popovich supported Pride Night and gay players in the NBA

When legendary NBA coach Gregg Popovich announced he was stepping down from coaching, a lot of the focus was on his coaching success, personality and his support for civil rights and progressive causes. One of those issues where Popovich was long a supporter was LGBTQ rights and having openly gay NBA players.

Numerous examples abound. In 2018, when then-Boston Celtics guard used a gay slur against referee Billy Kennedy (who is gay), Popovich defended Kennedy and criticized Rondo.

“Why would I be surprised?” Popovich asked. “You see it all the time. It’s unfortunate, it’s disgusting, because Billy is a great guy, and has been a class act on and off the court. As far as anybody’s orientation, it’s nobody’s business. It just shows ignorance to act in a derogatory way toward anybody in the LGBT community. It doesn’t make sense. But surprised, of course not. He showed a lot of courage.”

Kennedy said that the next time he refereed a Spurs game, Popovich came up to him. ‘You have more guts, you have more balls than anybody I know,'” Kennedy said he was told. “‘You have more courage than anybody I know. Now, go out there and kick as*.’ Then he walked away. He didn’t say a word to me for the rest of the game.”

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In a 2015 interview, Popovich was asked about the NBA having out gay players.

“It’s going to happen, and when it does it’s going to be like a two-way street,” Popvich said. “One, the education will have to continue. You’ll have to educate your other players because some of them might not be as societal-wise mature and maybe haven’t grown enough. So you’ve got to continue to educate.

“The other half of it is, on leadership’s part you gotta say ‘figure it out, Jack.’ I mean, you guys, figure it out. You are going to have to handle it. This is the way it is. It’s a dual approach I think. Some of it’s got to be — not forced, but matter-of-factly stated that this is the world. Grow up, mature, widen your horizons. And secondly, be loving enough to continue to educate some of those that maybe never had an opportunity to change their mindset.”

Two years earlier, Jason Collins became the first active NBA player to come out and Popovich’s reaction was typically gruff while also making a point. “I could care less whether somebody’s gay or not gay. It’s got nothing to do with anything else,” Popovich said.

LGBTQ rights and ‘idiot’ leaders

The Spurs coach also stood up for the LGBTQ community in 2023 when the team held a Pride Night in a state where rights are being stripped away. Most coaches don’t bother to talk much about LGBTQ rights, even at Pride Nights, but that didn’t stop Popovich.

“Nothing changes without bringing it to the attention of the population,” the Spurs coach said of his hope that Pride Night will help San Antonio become more accepting of LGBTQ people.

“We have gone backward in a lot of those areas, whether it’s LGBTQ rights or voting rights or women’s rights, the environment,” he said. “We have a lot of idiots in leadership in many places both local and national, and you have to work to not be angry or depressed about the backsliding we have done in all these areas. LGBTQ rights is obviously one of those areas.”

In addition. Popovich hired a women’s assistant when he tabbed Becky Hammon, who was with him for seven seasons before enjoying great success in the WNBA. As a bonus, Hammon is also gay.

Popovich won’t be behind the bench any more, but he remains the Spurs team president, so we can expect to hear more from him on LGBTQ rights.

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