Spurs coach Gregg Popovich receives COVID-19 vaccine as part of NBA promotional efforts: ‘I’m going to get the COVID-19 vaccine shot’

The accomplished NBA head coach has rarely bitten his tongue when it comes to critiquing a player's performance, chastising a reporter's question or speaking out on social injustices. This time, San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has decided to address another pressing topic.

"I’m going to get the COVID-19 vaccine shot," Popovich said in an NBA-sanctioned PSA. "It will keep me safe, keep my family safe and keep other people safe. Wearing masks is important and to get the vaccine does give you an added level of assurance."

Popovich joined former NBA center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to help with the league’s efforts to encourage its players and the general public to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Popovich’s participation is significant for a number of reasons.

He is currently the NBA’s longest-tenured and most-accomplished coach after leading the Spurs to five NBA championships and a 22-year playoff streak that ended last season. Popovich turns 73 on Thursday and is among the age group that the CDC considers a higher priority to receive the vaccine along with frontline workers and those with underlying conditions.

The video shows Popovich receiving the COVID-19 vaccine shot and then telling the nurse that he "didn’t even feel it."

"Science-wise, it’s a no brainer," Popovich said. "It’s the right thing to do so we can all get on track again. Let’s do this together. To learn more, visit CDC.gov."

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has maintained that the league "won’t jump the line in any form whatsoever" to receive the vaccine. The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association have also not decided whether it will be mandatory or voluntary for players to take it.

Yet, the NBA hopes its promotional efforts will assuage concerns among players, coaches and staff members.

Gregg Popovich is the oldest coach in the NBA at 73. (Photo: Kelley L. Cox, USA TODAY Sports)

Though the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have passed FDA standards, Philadelphia 76ers coach Doc Rivers mentioned some in the Black community feel skeptical because of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. That government-backed study, which took place in Macon County, Alabama, from 1932 to 1972, told Black participants they were receiving free health care. Instead, their syphilis went untreated.

Dr. Leroy Sims, the NBA’s medical director who oversaw the league’s season restart in Orlando last summer, received the Pfizer vaccine last month with California frontline workers. Dallas Mavericks CEO Cynt Marshall and her husband, Kenny, also recently received the first of two COVID-19 vaccination doses. Marshall, the NBA’s only Black female team president, took the vaccine to assuage concerns within the Black community as well as to treat underlying conditions.

Follow USA TODAY NBA writer Mark Medina on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

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