President Trump Rips Steve Kerr and Gregg Popovich For Being Soft Towards China

President Donald Trump has revealed his displeasure with the way Steve Kerr and Gregg Popovich reacted over the case of the recent problems between the NBA and China. According to the American President, the two coaches have been too soft towards the rigid Chinese stance. Instead of being equally sharp like when they attack him, they were apologetic.

The President was constantly using the phrase “pandering” when explaining the comments of the Warriors’ and Spurs’ head coaches. But besides that, also, he mentioned that when the above-mentioned two needed to attack him and the USA, their behavior was much more energetic.

“I watch the way that Kerr and Popovich and some of the others were pandering to China, and yet to our own country, it’s like they don’t respect it,” Trump said. “It’s like they don’t respect it. I said, ‘What a difference — isn’t it sad?’ It’s very sad. To me, it’s very sad.”

Recently, both Kerr and Popovich spoke about the situation between China and the NBA, caused because of Daryl Morey’s problematic tweet. The Houston Rockets General Manager posted on his account that he stands with the people of Hong Kong in their fight for freedom.

Morey would later delete that tweet, but it was already too late for that. Now, the two coaches did support Morey and the NBA, but according to President Trump, they did it carefully, and without a firm approach.

“He (Steve Kerr) was like a little boy, he was so scared to be even answering the question,” Trump said when explaining about Kerr’s interview in which he spoke about the current tensions between the league and the Chinese state. “He couldn’t answer the question — he was shaking ‘Oh, oh, oh, I don’t know. I don’t know.”

What he can’t get over is the fact that Kerr, according to President’s words, is much more aggressive and forceful when he criticizes the United States.

“He didn’t know how to answer the question, and yet he’ll talk about the United States very badly.”

When commenting Popovich, Trump notices that he looked more convincing than Kerr, but still, way of the course in his opinion.

“I watched Popovich — sort of the same thing, but he didn’t look quite as scared actually,” Trump said. “But they talk badly about the United States, but when it talks about China, they don’t want to say anything bad.

Earlier this Wednesday, Trump himself mentioned the issues between the NBA and China, saying that in his opinion, the league needs to find a suitable way to resolve this situation and that he supports them in defending the freedom of speech.

Having problems with China could severely impact the NBA, and create problems for the league. The Chinese broadcasters are one of the biggest in the world, and no doubt that the financial resources they offer are a massive part of the league’s income. That is why many are being a bit “apologetic,” as some say towards China in this case.

The Chinese national television CCTV decided to cancel the broadcasts of two preseason games held on their soil. Also, numerous promotional activities have been removed following Morey’s tweet. The latest one is the NBA Cares event, which was supposed to take place in Shanghai.

Adam Silver tried to settle things down, but so far, there wasn’t any breakthrough between the two sides. He did back up the freedom of speech and Morey, but also spoke with kind words about the Chinese state.

The problems in Hong Kong, who is not fully under China’s control began when their government tried to pass an extradition law, which would allow China to organize trials for the citizens of Hong Kong, in China, not in the city itself. Many of the civil rights activists believe that this law would severely damage democracy in this Asian state.