Advertisement

Gregg Popovich received a fraction of the presidential vote in San Antonio

Gregg Popovich (right) is the new head coach of USA Basketball, but why not more in 2020? (AP)
Gregg Popovich (right) is the new head coach of USA Basketball, but why not more in 2020? (AP)

Leading up to the election, there were serious calls for Spurs coach Gregg Popovich to run for President of the United States, from The Wall Street Journal, USA Today and other real news outlets (despite what Infowars might tell you). On a grassroots level, people lobbied for the five-time NBA champion’s campaign with “Pop for President” bumper stickers and T-shirts since at least 2014.

Calls grew louder for Popovich when he shook his head upon learning Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders had won the New Hampshire primaries in February, and again when he pondered the fall of Rome after watching the first presidential debate between Trump and Hillary Clinton in October.

[Follow Ball Don’t Lie on social media: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Tumblr]

It made a bit of sense, given Popovich’s background. The son of Serbian and Croatian immigrants, he graduated from the United States Air Force Academy and led the country to global supremacy, albeit as an assistant coach for Team USA. One could argue his NBA coaching experience with a litany of international players and the league’s first female assistant coach on his staff has made him somewhat of an expert on race, education, foreign policy and women’s rights, among other issues.

After all, if a billionaire reality TV host can make a serious run for the presidency, why not Popovich?

That was the feeling for 25 voters in Bexar County, home to San Antonio, the second-largest city in Texas and seventh-most populated in the U.S. Twenty-five of the city’s 580,000 voters — less than a third of the population — skipped past Trump, Clinton and the state’s 13 certified write-in candidates to write in Popovich’s name as their pick for president, according to the San Antonio Express-News. That’s just 0.005 percent of the vote, for those of you counting at home, but hey, it’s a start.

[Sign up for Yahoo Fantasy Basketball | Mock Draft | The Vertical | Latest news]

Of the 580,000 votes tallied in Bexar County, where Clinton defeated Trump, only 5,226 weren’t cast for one of the two major party candidates. The majority went to Sanders, a state-approved write-in candidate or one of the many Republicans who failed to defeat Trump in the primary. Popovich fared fairly well against everybody else, save for Jesus Christ. A few write-in results, via the Express-News:

Jesus: 57 votes
None of the above: 29 votes
Popovich: 25 votes
Mickey Mouse: 23 votes
Willie Nelson: 14 votes
Michelle Obama: 13 votes
Tim Duncan and Harambe: both 6 votes
Deez Nuts and George Strait: 4 votes apiece
Giant meteor: 2 votes
Beyonce, Kanye West and Darth Vader: 1 vote each

So, in addition to his title wins over the New York Knicks, New Jersey Nets, Detroit Pistons, Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat, Popovich can now add victories against Mickey Mouse, Deez Nuts and Darth Vader to the list, which is surely something he’ll cherish forever. Notice he also defeated his protege. How the greatest player in Spurs history received the same amount of presidential votes as Harambe is puzzling, but Duncan isn’t a bad vice presidential pick for Popovich. Or maybe Secretary of Defense.

As for Pop, he claimed to have cast a write-in vote of his own — for Hall of Fame coach Don Nelson.

Now, surely Popovich has no interest in being president. He can’t even get through a 60-second sideline interview without rolling his eyes at the ridiculousness, so you can imagine how he would react to having to deal with the White House press corps. But he did lament being “sick to my stomach” over the election results, so maybe keep hope alive for that Popovich-Duncan ticket in 2020.

As far as outside-the-box candidates go, Popovich is second only to Jesus. In San Antonio, at least.

– – – – – – –

Ben Rohrbach is a contributor for Ball Don’t Lie and Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at rohrbach_ben@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!