With Columbus Day 2022 having come and gone without a hitch, it’s in order to remember when San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich said that celebrating this holiday is the equivalent of Germans saying they’re proud of Adolf Hitler.
The controversial comments have yet to escape the winningest coach in NBA history, and he likely feels the same way today, as he’s constantly advocating for gun control and other left-wing policies.
“Columbus? He initiated a new-world genocide, that’s what he did,” Popovich said. “Beginning with him, and what he said would follow, the annihilation of every indigenous person in Hispaniola, which was Haiti and the Dominican Republic today.”
Popovich, 73, is not the only person who feels that way, with Columbus Day disappearing in various parts of the country in place of Indigenous People’s Day.
The claim Popovich makes is not entirely wrong, but in that case, he should also speak out against other holidays with poor reputations such as Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Gregg Popovich compares Columbus Day to Hitler
Popovich stated his thoughts on Columbus Day during a press conference last year, comparing it to celebrating Hitler.
“He took slaves, he mutilated, he murdered, and we’re going to say ‘slash’ and honor him,” Popovich said. “It’s Columbus Day, that’s why they [schools] are off on Monday? Maybe there’s something I’m missing and I’m ignorant, but it makes me feel like they’re living in a phone booth, and they’re educating our kids. Columbus Day, and we’re going to honor that?
“It’s like saying we should be proud of Hitler because we’re German, it makes no sense.”
Popovich recently delivered a speech on racism in America while speaking at a social justice summit organized by Jay-Z.