Steve Kerr's life is far bigger than basketball. Even as his team prepares to gear up for a playoff run in hopes of winning an unprecedented fourth championship in five seasons, the Golden State Warriors head coach continues to voice his opinion on some of the most important issues currently facing society.
This time, Steve Kerr threw his support behind Colin Kaepernick, the former Pro Bowl quarterback who many believe is being blacklisted by the NFL for taking a knee during the national anthem in protest of racial injustice.
If Colin Kaepernick was a professional basketball player instead of a professional football player, would he still find himself without a job after two full seasons? Kerr, agreeing with former commissioner David Stern, certainly seems to think so.
— Steve Kerr (@SteveKerr) February 14, 2019
David Stern's replacement as NBA commissioner, Adam Silver, has been a champion of civil rights since assuming the role in February 2014. Just two months into the job, he forced out Donald Sterling after a recording surfaced of the then LA Clippers owner expressing his racist worldview.
Silver found himself at the forefront of another civil rights controversy two years later, ultimately pulling the 2017 All-Star game out of Charlotte after North Carolina passed a bill that prohibited transgender people from using the bathroom associated with their identity.
Despite the NBA's standing as a champion of marginalized groups and free speech, it bears mentioning that a similar situation to the one involving Kaepernick took place in the 1990s, and the league reacted in a manner those like Kerr would surely denounce. In response to Mahmad Abdul-Rouf refusing to stand for the national anthem before games in 1996, the NBA suspended him without pay before shortly coming to a compromise that permitted him to keep his head down but obligated him to stand.
Clearly, the league has come a long way since then, and the comfort people like Kerr have making their views known is one of the biggest reasons why.
Follow Us
Subscribe