ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Calling it “terrible” and “a demoralizing day for our country,” U.S. men's basketball coach Steve Kerr attempted to sum up his team's emotions Sunday following the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.
“This is a time when we feel very proud to represent our country wearing the USA logo on our chest, competing in the Olympics,” Kerr said. “We've talked to the players about how important it is to show the best version of ourselves as human beings to represent our country in a respectful and dignified way. It makes you want to do it even more, because it's really embarrassing for us to sit here and think about what happened and what's happening in our country.”
Kerr, whose father Malcolm was assassinated in 1984 in Beirut, Lebanon, has a long history of criticizing gun violence. Malcolm Kerr was targeted by the militant group Islamic Jihad because he served as president of the American University of Beirut.
“It's a demoralizing day for our country and it's another example of not only our political divide but also gun culture,” said Steve Kerr. “A 20-year-old with an AR-15 trying to shoot the former president. It's hard to process everything and it's scary to think about how this will end because of the problems that already exist in the country. So this is a terrible day.
“Thank God Trump didn't get hit, but it's very demoralizing in every way.”
In a social media post, Trump said he had been shot “with a bullet that went through the top of my right ear” during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday. Secret Service agents quickly removed Trump from the stage, his ear covered in blood. Early Sunday morning, the FBI identified the suspected gunman as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks.
Players and coaches learned the news Sunday morning. In a statement, the FBI said “this is an active and ongoing investigation.”
“Obviously, it's a very sad time in general,” Team USA star Stephen Curry said. “All the conversations about the election and the state of politics in our country, and then you have a situation like this, which just [evokes] Many emotions surrounding things we need to correct as a people.
“Obviously, gun control is first and foremost, because it is possible for someone to commit an attack like that. But what we want most is… [see] Positivity and hope. It sounds corny, but it's real. It's when our country is at its best and it just adds another stain to what's going on. Very sad is just the word.”
Martina Strong, the U.S. ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, addressed the team at a previously scheduled event on Sunday. The U.S. team will remain in the Middle East this week before playing Olympic warm-up matches against Australia on Monday and Serbia on Wednesday.
“Obviously, what we're doing is very trivial, just playing basketball, but we want to do our best to try to give people a sense of what our country can be,” Kerr said. “And then you hear something like that and it's very demoralizing and obviously very sad.”
