San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich criticized NFL commissioner Roger Goodell for caving to Donald Trump in the past on the issue of player protests during the national anthem.
"A smart man is running the NFL and he didn't understand the difference between the flag and what makes the country great -- all the people who fought to allow (Colin) Kaepernick to have the right to kneel for justice," Popovich told the New York Times in a column posted Saturday. "The flag is irrelevant. It's just a symbol that people glom onto for political reasons .