Most basketball fans know Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich is man of few words so you would think he wouldn’t have much to say when asked what he thought about Colin Kaepernick’s silent protest. He responded, “What’s really interesting is the people that jump right away to say, one is attacking the police, or the people that jump on the other side…It’s a question where understanding and empathy has to trump, no pun intended, has to trump any quick reactions of an ideological or demagogical nature.”

One annoyance black people have to constantly deal with is white Americans telling us what we should or shouldn’t do when we’re approached by police. Video footage has shown that it doesn’t matter what we do or say during an encounter with police we could still end up in a body bag, even when we fully comply. Popovich also spoke about this topic, “It’s easier for white people because we haven’t lived that experience. It’s difficult for many white people to understand the day-to-day feeling that many black people have to deal with…I didn’t talk to my kids about how to act in front of a policeman when you get stopped. I didn’t have to do that. All of my black friends have done that. There’s something that’s wrong about that, and we all know that.” We all know this but very few are willing to admit it because admitting it would be admitting to the fact that we have a policing problem in this country.

Popovich spoke freely about the problems we face in America, if only more “Americans” could leave their perfect worlds and show some type of humanity we would have an opportunity to be a more productive country.