By Rhett Workman
Staff Writer
Longtime San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich created a firestorm over the weekend after calling for increased gun control, and also taking a shot at the Second Amendment in the process.
According to Fox News, Popovich asked reporters if any of them were armed.
Popovich made the comments during a pregame media availability prior to Sunday’s Spurs regular season finale with the Dallas Mavericks in Dallas, Texas. According to Fox News, Popovich spoke on the topic for nearly 10 minutes, asking reporters from both San Antonio and Dallas.
Popovich then took aim at the Second Amendment, calling it a “myth.” According to Fox, he said, “But they’re going to cloak all this stuff [in] the myth of the Second Amendment, the freedom.”
He subsequently added, “You know, it’s just a myth. It’s a joke. It’s just a game they play. I mean, that’s freedom.”
Popovich has been coaching the Spurs for more than 25 years and made the comments in response to the recent school shooting in Nashville and also the removal of the two Democrat lawmakers last week from the Tennessee State House over their protests for more gun reform.
He went on at length about the controversy, suggesting the two lawmakers were “railroaded” and questioned Republican attempts to paint those protesters as “insurrectionists” similar to the infamous incident a couple of years ago at the U.S. Capitol.
The coach, who possibly was coaching his final game for the team – he is 74 and the Spurs did not make the playoffs this season – chastised lawmakers from both parties but heaped most of his criticism at Republican lawmakers, including U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas).
