“Gregg Popovic liked Donald Trump over Richard Jefferson”: Tim Duncan hilariously opened up about Coach Pop and RJ’s relationship

Richard Jefferson had a love-hate relationship with Spurs head coach Gregg Popovic and the hate was real.

San Antonio Spurs had won 3 titles in 5-years from 2003 to 2007 after winning their first in 1999. But were kept out of the Finals for two straight seasons (2008 and 09) for the first time in 5 years because of much stronger teams in Boston and LA.

After they got Richard Jefferson from the Milwaukee Bucks in a trade in 2009, he was seen as the missing piece the Spurs needed for their title run.

But that relationship did not go in that direction. Surprisingly, after averaging around 20 points in the last six seasons, Jefferson had a sudden decline as he went from playing for iso-style teams to a Gregg Popovic team.

And the great Popovic as it turns out hated Jeff as much as he hates Donald Trump if not more and Tim Duncan was witness to it.

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Gregg Popovic hated Donald Trump but he liked him more than Richard Jefferson

The 6ft 7” forward averaged just above 12 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists in the 2009-10 season and kept declining in his 3 years stay with the franchise because he was never able to get perfect at the RnR and catch and shoot types of plays.

And it was natural for Pop to not like the man because his whole philosophy of basketball relied on that style of play. We know it’s not just that, him being a little too talkative must have something to do with it as well.

And Richard still remembers it and asked about the same when Duncan arrived on his podcast Road Trippin’ a couple of years back. When RJ asked Tim about who Coach hates more Donald Trump or himself, the former teammates went to nostalgia and Duncan hilariously accepted that Pop liked former President Trump more because Richard was gone from the team too soon.

Listen to the crew of the podcast recently reminiscing their meet with the Spurs legend.

Also read: A 41-year-old Kareem Abdul-Jabbar made 6 skyhooks for his 26 points in Game 5 of the 1988 NBA Finals

About the author

Akash Murty

An Electrical and Electronics Engineer by degree, Akash Murty is an NBA Editor at The SportsRush. Previously a Software Engineer, Murty couldn’t keep himself away from sports, and his knack for writing and putting his opinion forward brought him to the TSR. A big Soccer enthusiast, his interest in basketball developed late, as he got access to a hoop for the first time at 17. Following this, he started watching basketball at the 2012 Olympics, which transitioned to NBA, and he became a fan of the game as he watched LeBron James dominate the league. Him being an avid learner of the game and ritually following the league for around a decade, he now writes articles ranging from throwbacks, and live game reports, to gossip. LA Lakers are his favourite basketball team, while Chelsea has his heart in football. He also likes travelling, reading fiction, and sometimes cooking.

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