San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich is aware of the angst fans are expressing about injured All-NBA forward Kawhi Leonard, who has been sidelined by a quad injury for most of the season.
He can relate to their frustration because, well, he's frustrated, too.
Told that fans are worried about the Spurs organization and its star player, Popovich said: "I hope they do. That means they care about the program. Yeah, I want them to care. I want them to be interested in it and all that kind of thing, but I don't write the stories. You guys do."
Popovich made his remarks Friday night in his session with the media before the Spurs' home game against the Utah Jazz.
"I only talk about the things I know, and I know he's worked hard to get back," Popovich said, referring to Leonard. "It's been frustrating. You don't think he wants to come back? You don't think we want him back? But the fact that he's not back, it frustrates everybody for all the obvious reasons. But there's no blame to be placed on him or anybody else. It's just an unfortunate situation.
"What we do is we think about [what] we've got to do, what we've been doing. The guys that are playing, that's who the team is. If he got added to the team, well, that's great. But you've got to act like it's not going to happen because you've got to be who you are, and he's not with us right now. This team has to have its own identity. That seems pretty logical. That's the only way to look at this."
Leonard, 26, will miss his 64th game of the season when the Silver and Black take the floor against the Jazz on Friday night in a pivotal game with the two teams fighting for a playoff spot in the rough-and-tumble Western Conference.
Leonard missed the first 27 games of the season before debuting against the Mavericks in Dallas on Dec. 12. He played in nine games before he was shut down again. Leonard was diagnosed with tendinopathy in his right quadriceps before training camp last fall.
The Spurs dropped to 10th in the West standings after consecutive road losses to Golden State, Oklahoma City, and Houston, but they have won five straight at home to climb back into the playoff race.
San Antonio hits the road for two games after Friday night's game, playing at Milwaukee on Sunday afternoon and at Washington on Tuesday night.
Popovich likes the way the Spurs have battled without one of the top players in the NBA.
"I think they've done a hell of a job this year," Popovich said. "I think they've done that all year long."