Everyone nodded after hearing that.
"Sure is an old fox!"
"I knew he was up to no good."
"That cunning fox has so many tricks up his sleeve."
Everyone knew that stepping on something sticky made people uncomfortable.
Popovich was taking advantage of that.
There was another factor: NBA players were very particular about their shoes. Many even changed shoes at halftime.
Now that Popovich had pulled this stunt, the players would feel, to some degree, that their shoes were uncomfortable, and it would subtly affect their state of mind.
That could also affect their performance in the game.
After confirming there was a problem with the floor, the bodyguards carefully inspected it again. They found that it was only slightly sticky underfoot and that there were no other major issues.
Only then did the team head into the locker room.
Fortunately, they hadn't been wearing their basketball shoes when they entered the locker room, but their regular shoes instead.
They wouldn't put on their basketball shoes until they went onto the court to warm up.
Next, the coach explained the day's training plan.
There were still six or seven hours before the game started.
The team wasn't going to do any particularly strenuous training.
At most, they would take a few shots and practice layups.
After all, they needed to conserve their energy.
But when they left the locker room to head to the court, they noticed something strange again.
The entire way from their visiting-team locker room to the court, the floor of the Player Tunnel felt sticky underfoot.
It made them feel extremely uncomfortable.
Clearly, someone had smeared something on the locker room floor and the floor of the Player Tunnel.
Oddly, though, whatever they had smeared didn't affect the basketball shoes' normal use on the court.