Gregg Popovich rips 'coward' Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, says NBA bubble is safer than home state
Gregg Popovich has already expressed his confidence in the NBA bubble.
On Wednesday he explained exactly why he feels safer there than his home state of Texas.
The San Antonio Spurs head coach labeled Texas state leaders as “cowards” while calling out Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick for their handling of the COVID-19 outbreak in the state.
He did so in a video call with reporters while wearing a shirt reading “Vote: your life depends on it.”
The bubble is not Florida
“We’ve been all over the map in Texas, nobody knows what the hell is going on. We have a Lt. Gov. who decided he doesn’t want to listen to Fauci and those people anymore”
Gregg Popovich shared some thoughts about state and federal leadership on coronavirus pic.twitter.com/XiMQcunE6y— Tom Petrini (@RealTomPetrini) July 16, 2020
“The bubble is not Florida,” Popovich said. “The bubble is one of the safest places you can be. Especially compared to outside the bubble in Arizona or Texas or Florida.
“We’ve been all over the map in Texas. Nobody knows what the hell’s going on.”
‘They’re all cowards’
He then criticized Abbott and Patrick for basing their actions on politics and aligning with President Donald Trump rather than making sound decisions based on the guidance of experts like Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the nation’s leading voice on the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We have a lieutenant governor who decided he doesn’t want to listen to Fauci and those people any more,” Popovich continued. “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’ means Trump. Because they’re all cowards and they’re all afraid.”
Popovich made the statement from inside the bubble at Disney World as a COVID-19 outbreak ravages Florida. Texas and Florida are both experiencing outbreaks under Trump-aligned governors.
COVID-19 numbers in Texas, Florida
Florida shattered the record for new daily COVID-19 cases in any state on Sunday with more than 15,000 reported cases. On Tuesday, it set a new state high with 132 deaths attributed to the virus. The coronavirus death toll in the state is now at 4,409. Florida’s outbreak has spiked in the aftermath of Gov. Ron DeSantis pushing for businesses to reopen in May.
Texas is experiencing a similar crisis after state leadership pushed for an aggressive reopening campaign. The state recorded 10,000 new daily cases for the first time last week and hit the threshold again on Tuesday with 10,745 new cases. Houston’s hospitals are at capacity.
As of Tuesday, the tally of confirmed cases in Texas reached 275,058. That number, of course, doesn’t include people who have the disease but have not been tested.
So for those reasons and the safety protocols implemented inside the NBA bubble, the 71-year-old Popovich feels safer at Disney World.
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