NBA and U.S. Olympic basketball coach Steve Kerr, speaking on stage at the Democratic National Convention, put his head to his hands in a move made popular by his star player Steph Curry and said it was time to tell Donald Trump “night night.”
Speaking in a building in which he won three NBA championships as a Chicago Bull, Kerr called for America to “play on the same team” and support the vision of the Harris-Walz ticket.
Kerr, a critic of Trump during his presidency whose Golden State Warrios did not visit the White House for championship celebrations during the former president’s time in office, praised the qualities that the vice president and her running mate bring to the election.
“I believe that leaders must display dignity. I believe that leaders must tell the truth. I believe that leaders should be able to laugh at themselves. I believe leaders must care for and love the people they are leading. I believe leaders must possess knowledge but with full awareness that none of us has all the answers,” Kerr said.
“And, in fact, the best answers often come from members of the team. And if you look for those qualities in your friends, or your boss, or your child’s teacher, or your mayor, then shouldn’t you want those same qualities in your president?”
Kerr, who coached Curry and the U.S. Olympic men’s team to a gold medal, said he knew the dangers of getting political, given his day job.
“I can see 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 speak up in an election of this magnitude.”
After ribbing Walz for some of his football coaching strategies, Kerr implored the country to come together, just as basketball Olympians hailing from several professional teams did.
“Think about what our team achieved with 12 Americans in Paris—putting aside rivalries to represent our country. Now imagine what we could do with all 350 million of us playing on the same team. Not as Democrats. Not as Republicans. Not as Libertarians. But as Americans,” Kerr said.
Kerr has been political 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 school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, in which he challenged lawmakers to move forward on background checks and other gun protections.
Earlier this year, he joined Harris on a call with students about gun violence prevention, warning of the dangers of a second term for former President Trump.