Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr has never been shy about speaking his mind. Always thoughtful and insightful, it’s easy to see why San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich is one of his cherished mentors.
Both men have clearly, and in no uncertain terms, been at the forefront of the sports world’s profound exasperation with Donald Trump.
While conservative NFL owners – with the exception of the Jacksonville Jaguars Shad Khan, who actually called out the President on his divisive, con man antics – thought their sham of locking arms with their inmates, I mean players, would fool folks into believing that the league was unified behind a juvenile, idiotic Trump rant about boycotting the league because of a group of “sons-of-bitches”, you’ve never once heard the NFL’s prison guards, my bad I mean coaches, speaking up about the sinister nonsense and nauseating nature of what’s being espoused by a childish, ignorant, petty and petulant man who will go down as the worst President in American history.
But there are no such worries in the NBA, where Kerr, Popovich and others are free to express themselves in any way they choose. And we have the latest example in the wake of yet another mass shooting tragedy in Texas, right on the heels of the unfathomable horrors in Las Vegas.
Trump said Monday that he believes the Texas church shooting was caused by a “mental health problem,” not an issue with gun laws in the United States.
“Mental health is your problem here,” Trump said, noting that “based on preliminary reports” the shooter was “a very deranged individual.”
President Donald Trump Blames Mental Health For Texas Shooting | NBC Nightly News
Trump called the Sutherland Springs, Texas, church shooting a mental health issue while saying it was “too soon” to talk about guns. ” Subscribe to NBC News: http://nbcnews.to/SubscribeToNBC ” Watch more NBC video: http://bit.ly/MoreNBCNews NBC News is a leading source of global news and information.
“This isn’t a guns situation,” Trump said. “This is a mental health problem at the highest level. It’s a very, very sad event. A very, very sad event, but that’s the way I view it.”
Trump said his “thoughts and prayers” were with the victims and their families, and then suggested that it was too soon to discuss what measures could be taken to prevent a similar tragedy from occurring again. And once again, he would not suggest plans to take any legislative or other policy action to address the shooting.
But thankfully, we’ve got a guy like Kerr, whose father was assassinated in Lebanon in 1984, that has some intelligence to go along with his national profile and elevated platform, who is willing to offer up one of the many things that Trump sorely lacks – common sense.
Anthony Slater on Twitter
Steve Kerr’s full quote today on gun control
Two summers ago in an interview with the Mercury Newss Tim Kawakami, he made a passionate plea saying that the current handling of gun control in America is insane.
“When 90% of our country wants background checks on gun purchases and weve got our senate and our house not only voting it down, but using the Bill of Rights as a reason for people to have rights to carry these automatic weapons, and were getting people murdered every day at an alarming rate,” Kerr said. “I just have to get this off my chest, our government is insane. We are insane.
Shlomo Sprung on Twitter
On @timkawakami’s podcast, Steve Kerr made a passionate, personal stand for gun control. https://t.co/WprXBkgxzS
Kerr is now urging politicians, industry and the American public to look at the problem as a public safety issue, a public health issue as opposed to a political and gun lobbying issue. Referencing a New York Times opinion piece written by Nicholas Kristof, Kerr drew parallels to the car industry.
Our government has to lead the way and they cant just cave into the NRA just because the NRA wants to make money, Kerr said. They have to put peoples safety and health over the interest of the gun lobby and the gun industry. It doesnt seem like it would be that far of a stretch. But for whatever reason, were paralyzed and unable to do anything to protect our citizens. Its disgusting and its a shame.
Anthony Slater on Twitter
Steve Kerr calls gun control a safety issue, references article he read comparing it to automobiles decades back https://t.co/HPco7phuhh
Sadly, this voice of reason is not emanating and echoing through Capitol Hill and the White House. And that, in and of itself, given the tremendous loss of life that we continue to experience, is what’s proving to be even more insane, shameful and disgusting as innocent blood continues to spill, while those in positions of power to bring about substantive change, look the other way in favor of dollars and wealth.
