IFWT_Popovich

San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich was already in midseason form when five players stayed home for the preseason game against the Suns in Phoenix.  Patty Mills and Tiago Splitter were injured, Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili were resting, and Kawhi Leonard is recovering from an eye infection picked up overseas.  Things then got even worse or funnier (depends on who you are) when Popovich then joined them and elected to skip the game as well.  Many fans were unhappy about this as well as Suns owner Robert Sarver who apologized to the fans in attendance and even offered financial credit.  Popovich fired back at Sarver as only Popovich could.

Shay Marie

via Dan McCarney of MySanAntonio.com:

“As I said, the silliness begins,” he said. “Most wise individuals would check facts before they made statements. Unless you’re interested in putting on a show. In that case, the facts get in your way, as in this case.

“We had five guys we didn’t send. Patty Mills had a shoulder operation over the summer.Tiago Splitter (calf) has been out the whole preseason. Kawhi Leonard (eye infection) was out and is still out for 10 more days. The other two, Duncan and Ginobili, are two of the oldest guys in the league who just came back from a 13-day European trip.

“The only thing that surprises me is that he didn’t say it in a chicken suit. I’ll just leave it at that.”

If that last line seems a bit strange … well, it is. Unless you are extremely well-versed in your Suns-Spurs history.

via Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic:

It was not the first time that Sarver had a reaction to the Spurs holding out Duncan and Ginobili. In 2005, he flapped his arms like chicken wings at the Spurs bench when San Antonio chose to hold out the same two stars from a regular-season game. He again drew negative social media reaction Thursday night from Spurs fans.

h/t ProBasketballTalk