Gregg Popovich got testy with reporter Joe Vardon after the United States lost to Australia in an exhibition game in Las Vegas, Nev. on Monday night.
Team USA has played two exhibition games in three days and lost both of them. The defeats mark the first time since pros began playing for Team USA Basketball that they have lost consecutive exhibition games.
After the loss, Damian Lillard and Popovich answered questions from the media. Popovich was not happy with Vardon for suggesting the US should be dominating their opponents more. He kept cutting off Vardon while defending the quality of the team’s opponents.
Popovich has an exchange with a reporter postgame Team USA loss to Australia #nba #gospursgo #teamusa pic.twitter.com/sedy3N45ra
— JeffGSpursZone (@JeffGSpursZone) July 13, 2021
It’s true that the rest of the world has closed the gap with the US in men’s basketball. Many teams that were weak 20-30 years ago have improved drastically and become challengers. Still, in just 2016, Team USA was smashing its opponents in exhibition games by huge margins. They won the gold medal at the Olympics.
Popovich needs to get his act together. Of course, his issues with reporters are nothing new.
