"I always support any form of peaceful protest," Kerr said on Sunday. "That's what our country is founded on."
SAN FRANCISCO — Steve Kerr’s speech in the wake of the Robb Elementary shooting condemning political inaction stirred the sports world and beyond. He is in full support of fellow Bay Area coach Gabe Kapler’s decision to stay off the field during the playing of the national anthem as his form of protest following the massacre in Uvalde, Texas.
“I always support any form of peaceful protest,” Kerr said on Sunday. “That’s what our country is founded on. I think it’s great that he’s making his own statement and I think everyone has to do it in their own way. That’s the way Gabe chose to do it and I applaud him for it.”
The San Francisco Giants manager told reporters Friday that he plans to sit in the dugout during the anthem going forward.
“Until I feel better about the direction of our country,” he said Friday in Cincinnati when asked how long his protest might last.
Kapler had written a blog post, titled “Home of the Brave?”, skewering the U.S. gun lobby, police response and political inaction on gun violence. He wrote that he felt like a “coward” for standing during the national anthem for the Giants’ game against the New York Mets following the May 24 shooting in which an 18-year-old shot and killed 21 people, including 19 children.
“We aren’t free when politicians decide that the lobbyist and gun industries are more important than our children’s freedom to go to school without needing bulletproof backpacks and active shooter drills,” Kapler wrote.
Kapler has received some support from around the league, but others have pushed back on his stance. Chicago White Sox manager Tony La Russa told reporters “there are a lot of problems in this country that need to be addressed” but said protesting the national anthem was not “appropriate.”
Kerr — whose father, Malcolm Kerr, was assassinated in 1984 in Beirut — argues that any form of protest should be accepted in a march toward justice.
“It’s important for everyone to express their frustration, disgust, anger, whatever it is, in whatever way they can,” Kerr said. “So I support everybody’s right to demand that from our country.”
In his media session before Game 4 of the Western Conference finals, hours after the shooting, Kerr was on the verge of tears as he gave an impassioned speech calling on politicians to take action on gun violence. The massacre occurred just 350 miles south of Dallas, where the Warriors were playing that night.
“What’s unique about being in professional sports, especially these days, is that we have a platform,” Kerr said on Sunday. “I don’t feel like everybody has to use that platform. If you feel comfortable doing so, it’s important to do so. So I applaud Gabe for sticking his neck out there. I’m sure he’s going to get a lot of flack for it, but my view is peaceful protest is the American way.”
Steph Curry and other Warriors teammates voiced their support for their coach and echoed similar sentiments. Curry gave Kerr a pre-game handshake and a nod. He posted a video of Kerr’s speech on his Twitter saying “Watch this as much as you watch the game tonight.”
But the team, days away from its sixth NBA finals trip in eight seasons, is still trying to find a balance between grief and joy.
“We haven’t discussed it as a team. I’m not sure how to handle that,” Kerr said. “It’s a weird sort of balancing act between how horrified we all are and what actually matters and a basketball game that’s really meaningful to us and our profession and fans, but in comparison, who the hell cares? I don’t really know what the answer is in terms of how to navigate it. Ultimately, you try to do your job and prepare. But it’s impossible to take your mind off of tragedy, horror and devastation of all the families that are forever going to be grieving and forever altered. It’s a very difficult thing to reconcile.”
