Marshawn Lynch developed a reputation for his lack of cooperation with the media, leading to comparisons with famously brief San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich. However, Popovich doesn't believe his approach with reporters mirrors that of the Seattle Seahawks' star, he told Sam Amick of USA Today.
Gregg Popovich explains why his interviews aren’t like Marshawn Lynch’s
The Spurs’ coach doesn’t appreciate those comparisons to the Seattle Seahawks’ superstar.
Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports
“The only time I’m uncooperative is the end of the first or third quarter,” Popovich told Amick regarding interviews. “Other than that, I do interviews and laugh it up with everybody all the time. I just have a philosophical difference with the NBA, and I let them know it every time. But that’s like one percent of the interviews that I do.”
Popovich is famous in basketball circles for his terse, sarcastic responses during press conferences and in-game interviews. Those are only a small fraction of the interactions he has with reporters on a daily basis, though, and Popovich rightly points out he’s typically more open and candid than many other coaches in the NBA.
That's different from Lynch, who essentially shunned media coverage in recent months as the Seahawks made their second straight trip to the Super Bowl. With the unending hype machine of media coverage descending upon Glendale, Ariz., for two weeks, Lynch's refusal to cooperate was under the spotlight. We eventually had to create a guide just to wrap our heads around the things Lynch was saying (or not saying).
However, Popovich doesn’t want to be put in the same breath as Lynch, who’s earned criticism from reporters, fellow NFL players and others. That makes sense, too, given that Popovich indeed does pregame and postgame interviews, often without making it the challenge Lynch has. His most public interviews, the ones during games, might be brief and aimless, but that’s not the defining way Popovich carries himself with reporters.
As Amick said in the introduction to the interview, Popovich generally “offers a rare kind of substance and candor that is often overlooked.” Those things were certainly on display when the coach was asked about the in-game interviews:
“They don’t need it. It’s superfluous. It’s awkward for the questioner. It puts the coach in a position where he looks ignorant or trite, or that ‘Well, one game at a time stuff,’ or ‘Well, we’ll try to do better this quarter. Maybe we’ll shoot better.’ It’s just -- it makes no sense.”
He could just start answering with, “You know why I’m here.”
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