Pop quiz: Popovich to test players on worldly issues this season
As one of the league's most forward thinkers, Gregg Popovich plans to take a new approach to coaching this season.
In an effort to make his players more engaged with the world around them, Popovich plans to quiz his team on current events to see which individuals know the most about non-basketball topics.
"What’s cool is that everybody looks at that person, like: How do you know that?" Popovich told The Wall Street Journal's Ben Cohen.
"Then you walk away and you watch and two or three guys are talking over here and two or three are talking over there. Or if I say something about Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump or the political system, they talk about it. It brings them together. There’s a purpose to it - and it’s fun for me."
Popovich spoke out about the United States' racial issues last week, saying that he has "great respect" for the athletes who have taken stands against social inequality.
Related: Popovich delivers eloquent answer to America's race problem
Upon entering training camp, Popovich handed each player a copy of Ta-Nehisi Coates' "Between the World and Me," and showed them "The Birth of a Nation," hoping to give each player a better understanding of the issues that are affecting the U.S.
"I think it’s important for their lives, for their kids, their wives, for our basketball team," he said. "Everybody’s gotta get engaged with this elephant in the room that we all have to deal with, but nobody really wants to. People are, like, tired of it. Is it race again? Do we have to talk about it? Well, the reason we do is because it’s still the elephant in the room. Because it still has never been taken care of. Because it’s still there."
While he admits he's likely being too extreme, Popovich worries that America could be in serious trouble if many of their current problems persist, predicting that the U.S. could be the new Roman Empire.
"I worry that maybe I’m being a little too pessimistic, but I’m beginning to have a harder time believing that we are not Rome," he said. "Rome didn’t fall in 20 days or 30 years. It took a couple hundred years. The question is: Are we in that process and we don’t even know it? I really am starting to think about that. It’s not just the two candidates. It’s the way the whole thing is being treated."
The Spurs' season tips off on Oct. 25 against the Golden State Warriors.