Gregg Popovich Says Texas Politicians Are 'Cowards' for Handling of Pandemic

San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich feels safer in the NBA's campus-like environment at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida, than he would in Texas in part because he doesn't have to deal with the "cowards" in charge of his team's home state.

As Jason Owens of Yahoo Sports shared, Popovich addressed the COVID-19 pandemic Wednesday during a video call with reporters and said Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick have let Texas down with their handling of the situation.

He particularly criticized their decision for listening to the sitting president instead of Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases:

"We have a lieutenant governor who decided he doesn't want to listen to Fauci and those people anymore. That makes a lot of sense. How safe can that be? The messaging is ridiculous.

"The governor goes back and forth based on whether he has to satisfy Trump or listen to the numbers—politics show maybe he better do this because the virus has done that. But no overall policy, no principle. It's all about politics. It's all about what's good for them. And 'them' mostly means Trump. Because they're all cowards and they're all afraid."

Popovich has never hesitated to criticize politicians, including Donald Trump.

In fact, he used similar language in October when he called Trump "feckless, impotent and cowardly by comparison" to NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, per the San Antonio Express-News' Jeff McDonald.

According to CBS Dallas Fort Worth, Texas reported 10,745 new COVID-19 cases and a record 10,569 people hospitalized because of the virus Tuesday.

"Hospitalizations and infection rates have soared in the aftermath of Abbott embarking on what had been one of the most aggressive reopenings in America," the report pointed out.

As for Popovich's Spurs, their first of eight seeding games in Orlando is scheduled for July 31 against the Sacramento Kings.