Gregg Popovich has five NBA Championship rings to his name, but the San Antonio Spurs head coach considers something else even more important than winning.
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Popovich, along with Harvard professor and civil-rights activist Dr. Cornel West, took questions about social issues from 250 high school students in San Antonio last month, per The Nation. One of those students asked if the Spurs would win a championship this year, a feat they accomplished in 2014.。

Popovich's answer was priceless.。

Popovich's answer was priceless.。

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“Win the championship?" he said. "I don’t know, but it’s not a priority in my life. I’d be much happier if I knew that my players were going to make society better, who had good families and who took care of the people around them. I’d get more satisfaction out of that than a title."。

Popovich — who is famously terse, brilliantly sarcastic and remarkably difficult with the media — shed his reputation as a man of few words after Donald Trump became the President-elect last month. He went on a six-minute rant, saying "I’m a rich white guy, and I’m sick to my stomach thinking about it. I couldn't imagine being a Muslim right now or a woman or an African-American, a Hispanic, a handicapped person, and how disenfranchised they might feel. And for anyone in those groups that voted for him, it's just beyond my comprehension how they ignored all that."
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Only a couple weeks later, Popovich was clearly still feeling verbose when the student asked about championships. 。

He continued, saying "...we have to want more than success in our jobs. That’s why we’re here. We’re here so you’ll understand that you can overcome obstacles by being prepared and if you educate the hell out of yourself."。 Popovich's words ring especially true when you look at the Spurs' record this year —16-4, one game out of first place in the NBA Western Conference. 。His squad。

His squad。

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winning a lot, but Popovich stressed that there's more to life than basketball.。"If you become respectful, disciplined people in this world, you can fight anything," he said. "If you join with each other and you believe in yourself and each other, that’s what matters. That’s what we want to relay to you all -- that we believe that about you or we wouldn’t be here.”TopicsDonald TrumpElections
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