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De'Aaron Fox reveals Gregg Popovich's locker room message after Game 3 originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The San Antonio Spurs got blown out 123-108 in Game 3, blew a 15-0 lead, and got outscored by 30 points the rest of the way.
Gregg Popovich had seen enough. The 77-year-old Spurs president, who retired from coaching last season following a stroke and handed the bench duties to Mitch Johnson, walked into the San Antonio locker room after Game 3. It was the first time he had done that all season.
De'Aaron Fox told Tracy McGrady exactly what happened on the NBC postgame show after the Spurs' 103-82 Game 4 win Sunday that tied the Western Conference Finals at 2-2.
"We lost Game 3," Fox said. "Pop's been around throughout the course of the season, but that was the first time he walked into the locker room and was like, 'Nah, that's BS, that's not how we play basketball.' Obviously, he had some choice words for us. That was the first time all season that he came into the locker room right after a game and told us how he felt. Everybody felt that."
Wembanyama and the Spurs answered with their most complete game of the series
San Antonio went wire-to-wire in Game 4. Victor Wembanyama finished with 33 points, eight rebounds, and five assists. The Thunder, who had not been held below 100 points in the entire postseason, finished with 82 on Sunday night.
Fox missed Games 1 and 2 with a right high-ankle sprain, had 12 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists in his second game back.
Popovich coached San Antonio for 29 seasons, won five championships and built a culture that runs through this current roster even in his absence from the bench.
His history of walking into locker rooms and cutting through noise goes back to David Robinson and Tim Duncan.
Charles Barkley recalled recently that Pop used to yell at Duncan regularly. Wembanyama is now part of that same lineage.
Game 5 goes to Oklahoma City.
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