Popovich applauds Silver, NBA for leadership in making bubble work

San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich doesn't believe it's luck that the NBA campus hasn't reported a positive COVID-19 test in the last three weeks.

"There's absolutely no doubt that the NBA, under the leadership of Adam Silver, has done a magnificent job of being visionaries in the sense of looking at the big picture and trying to figure out what unintended consequences may appear," Popovich said Wednesday, according to USA TODAY's Mark Medina.

The former Air Force officer likened the bubble's preparation to that of the military.

"Right down the line since the day we got here, everything has been so efficient, disciplined, and done with ease," he said. "It's not like being in basic training in the military. It's very organized like the military ... the league deserves a lot of credit under Adam's leadership. No. 1, our leader had a vision and knew how to organize, and did it efficiently. The participants, unlike many of our citizens, have been very disciplined about reaching this goal and coming together for a common purpose."

At 71, Popovich is the oldest head coach in the league, and has been wearing a mask during games.

"We can look at our country and realize from the top we don't have the ability to organize for all the reasons we know," he said. "As a population, you worry about the fiber of our country to some degree because we just don't have the discipline. All we want is this instant gratification. People don't understand the long-term effects. It would've been a lot more wise spending time worrying about how to open schools than how to open bars."