There are a couple of ways you could define Gregg Popovich’s relationship with the media when the cameras are on, but perhaps chummy isn’t one of them. That also depends on who you ask.
In the case of the NBA on TNT’s Jared Greenberg, well, the longtime San Antonio Spurs head coach trolled the then-NBA TV reporter in an excruciating interview back in 2015.
We’re since eight years removed from that interview, and Greenberg has become a more prominent name in the NBA marketplace. And yet, his dealings with Popovich still follow him, as he was asked about his recent interactions with the 74-year-old coach during an appearance on the Awful Announcing podcast.
Greenberg told host Brandon Contes that he was just recently with Popovich, who he jokingly described as a “chipper, young man.”
“I’m sure you’re referring back to — I think it was in 2015 or something,” recalled Greenberg. “You know, what people don’t realize about him — and I’m not letting him off the hook because I think he needs to be held a little bit more, I don’t know about accountability, but people need to call him on the carpet a little bit more.”
“Off of live television, he’s a sweet man. And he’s nice. The coolest thing we get as a national partner with the NBA is we get a few minutes off the record mandated with each coach before each game we do on TNT.”
Earlier this week, Greenberg got to spend 15 minutes with Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault and 15 minutes with Popovich ahead of a Tuesday night matchup on TNT, which the Thunder won 123-87.
“In those instances, he is giving us a lot of content,” Greenberg explained. “A lot of good information, some of which we can use on the air, a lot of which we can’t use on the air. And it’s much different than his public persona.”
“I wish at times he wasn’t as condescending…I think he’s hypocritical in sometimes, he charges the media with taking the game too seriously, and then if you take it too lightly, he wants to know why you aren’t taking it more seriously. I think he sets you up in whatever corner he wants to be in.
“I wish he would embrace — I wish the whole San Antonio organization would embrace the media, particularly their broadcast partners, who are essentially funding a big part of the league. That we’re partners, not enemies, and working together creates better content for the viewer and the fan; it becomes a better experience”
“I should ask Pop at some point, the next time I see him, those coach’s interviews at the end of quarters that he became so famous for, first with Craig Sager, and then with David Aldrige, and then Doris Burke, and me…and he’s sometimes been a jerk, and sometimes been nice. But what I’m curious to know is if he recognized that by him making it such a spectacle, made the NBA want to continue to do it.”
Greenberg said that sometimes it was eventful and sometimes there was nothing there. But by Popvich turning it into more than something it needed to be, the legendary head coach made it an event.
“It was, to me, counterintuitive. If he didn’t like doing the interviews, he didn’t want to do it, he should’ve said nothing,” said Greenberg. “He should’ve just gave a couple word answers and made it boring and vanilla, and there’d be no entertainment value. And maybe we still wouldn’t be doing it 10 years later.”
All in all, Popovich’s relationship with the media is a double-edged sword, marked by both moments of hostility and moments of insightful commentary. Despite some displays of dismissiveness and condescension towards reporters,
Popovich, according to Greenberg, can provide valuable insight and perspectives when the cameras are off. His willingness to engage in these off-the-record conversations with TNT, Greenberg, and others, suggests that he’s not entirely averse to media scrutiny, but that he picks and chooses his moments of engagement rather carefully.
The full episode of The Awful Announcing Podcast with Jared Greenberg will be released Friday morning. Subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts. For more content, subscribe to AA’s YouTube page.
