Katie Wadington and The Hill
15 hours ago
(The Hill) – NBA and U.S. Olympic basketball coach Steve Kerr put his head in his hands during a speech on stage at the Democratic National Convention – a move made popular by his star player Steph Curry – and said it was time to say “goodnight” to Donald Trump.
Speaking in a building where he won three NBA championships as a Chicago Bull, Kerr called on America to “play on the same team” and support the vision of the Harris-Walz team.
Kerr, a critic of Trump during his presidency whose Golden State Warriors did not come to the White House for championship celebrations during the former president’s term, praised the qualities the vice president and her running mate bring to the election.
“I believe leaders must demonstrate dignity. I believe leaders must tell the truth. I believe leaders should be able to laugh at themselves. I believe leaders must care about and love the people they lead. I believe leaders must possess knowledge but realize that none of us have all the answers,” Kerr said.
“And in fact, the best answers often come from the members of the team. And if you look for those qualities in your friends, your boss, your child’s teacher, or your mayor, shouldn’t you want those qualities in your president?”
Kerr, who coached Curry and the U.S. men’s Olympic team to a gold medal, said he knew how dangerous it was to enter politics given his day job.
“I can imagine the ‘shut up and whistle’ tweets being fired off right now. But I also knew as soon as I was asked that it was too important as an American citizen not to raise your voice in an election of this magnitude.”
After teasing Walz about some of his strategies as a football coach, Kerr implored the country to come together, just as basketball Olympians from several professional teams had done.
“Think of what our team of 12 Americans accomplished in Paris – putting aside rivalries to represent our country. And now imagine what we could accomplish if all 350 million of us played on the same team. Not as Democrats. Not as Republicans. Not as Libertarians. But as Americans,” Kerr said.
Kerr has been politically active before.
The NBA coach, whose father was shot and killed in the 1980s, made headlines with his passionate response at a press conference to the 2022 Uvalde school massacre in Texas, calling on lawmakers to make progress on background checks and other gun safety measures.
Earlier this year, he and Harris participated in a conference call with students on gun violence prevention and warned of the dangers of a second term for former President Trump.
