Spurs' Gregg Popovich Addresses COVID-19 Concerns: 'I Don't Want to Die'

Nobody can accuse 71-year-old Gregg Popovich of not taking the COVID-19 pandemic seriously.

During an appearance on TNT's The Arena, the San Antonio Spurs coach stressed the importance of wearing a mask and said, "I don't want to die. I wear my mask all the time. ... If you have half a brain, you have to take this seriously."

This is not the first time Popovich has addressed the COVID-19 pandemic while isolated along with many others in the NBA in Orlando, Florida, as the league attempts to restart its season in a campus-like environment at Walt Disney World Resort.

Jason Owens of Yahoo Sports shared the coach's past words when he said he felt safer on the campus than he would in Texas in part because of the way Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick have handled the pandemic.

Popovich called them cowards and criticized them for listening to President Donald Trump 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."

As of Monday, there have been more than 3.8 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States alone, which is more than any other country in the world.

With that as the backdrop, Popovich explains he even wears his mask to practice and only takes it off if he needs to say something clearly.

On the court, his Spurs play their first of eight seeding games July 31 against the Sacramento Kings.