Zaza Pachulia, family felt threatened after Gregg Popovich's tongue-lashing

San Antonio Spurs' LaMarcus Aldridge, left, is defended by Golden State Warriors' Zaza Pachulia during Game 2 of the Western Conference finals May 16 in Oakland, Calif.
San Antonio Spurs' LaMarcus Aldridge, left, is defended by Golden State Warriors' Zaza Pachulia during Game 2 of the Western Conference finals May 16 in Oakland, Calif.

The day after a Zaza Pachulia Game 1 closeout foul hurt Kawhi Leonard, Gregg Popovich went on a tirade about Pachulia's dirty play. The lively press conference stemmed from a little bit of sports hate.
But, for fans, sports hate often means real hate. The lines can be blurred. And in the days after Popovich's directed rant stoked the flames, Pachulia received so much online backlash that he closed down his Instagram account and even had security guards deployed to the entrance of his son's school, he told USA Today on Sunday.
"I don't blame everything on Pop, but what he said had a lot of influence (and) you had a lot of people where, unfortunately, you can't control what everybody's intelligence is," Pachulia told USA Today's Sam Amick. "(Fans) just hear the message, and it's, 'OK, Pop said so and now let's do this.' It's just wrong. You've got to think, and realize. Threaten me, but don't threaten my wife or say something about my kids. It's just wrong. Me as a person, as a man, I don't mind dealing with it. But I hate to see my family deal with it. My wife and my kids who have nothing to do with it, who are very innocent. I just hate my family going through that. They don't deserve that I'm not blaming everything on (Popovich), but he was a very big part of it."
Pachulia told the paper that his wife, who traveled to San Antonio, has been noticeably upset by the ordeal.
"It's tough that I saw what they were feeling," Pachulia said. "Even though sometimes my wife doesn't want to show it, it's obvious. We've been together for 10 years now, so 10 years is a long time to know somebody. Every move. Every breath. It's very emotional for her, especially the traveling. She's by herself. And even though I'm pretty sure nothing is going to happen, still when you get this kind of threatening messages, you don't know. Look at what happened at the school. It was unfortunate. They had to get extra security because we are living in a world today where social media is so active, you can find any news you want to, hear any news you want to, and obviously it's a hot topic lately. They just had hired extra security for the entrance, and make sure nobody goes in the school."

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