Ten days ago, Steve Kerr led the U.S. men's basketball team to a gold medal at the Paris Olympics. He has led the Golden State Warriors to four NBA championships. As a player, he was part of five NBA championship teams.
So when he got the chance to speak Monday night at the Democratic National Convention in support of Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate Tim Walz, Kerr focused on what he does best: leadership.
“I think leaders need to show dignity. I think leaders need to tell the truth,” Kerr said. “I think leaders need to care and love the people they lead.
“If you look for those qualities in your friends, in your boss, in an employee, in your child’s teacher, or in your mayor, shouldn’t you want those same qualities in your president? And if you think about it that way, there’s no comparison. I see all those qualities in Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.”
“Leadership, true leadership, is not that which seeks to divide us, but that which recognizes and celebrates our common purpose.”
Kerr concluded his speech by borrowing the signature gesture of his best Warriors player, bowing his head toward his clasped hands.
“After the [election] “Once the results are in,” Kerr said, “we can, in the words of the great Steph Curry, say to Donald Trump: ‘Good night.’”
The support for the Democratic nomination was not a surprise from Kerr, who for years has been one of the most outspoken liberal voices in sports. Nor was his criticism of Trump, with whom he has had clashes in the past.
In 2019, Trump criticized Kerr for initially declining to comment on the NBA's handling of Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey's tweet supporting anti-government protesters in Hong Kong, tweeting that Kerr looked like “a scared little boy.”
Kerr responded a day later, saying: “This was my experience with, wow, The Office… [of president] “My hope is that we can find a mature unifier from either party to sit in that chair and try to restore some dignity to the Oval Office again, and I think that will happen.”
Trump rescinded the Warriors' invitation to visit the White House to celebrate their 2017 championship after Curry criticized him for his attacks on black athletes protesting during the national anthem. Instead of visiting the White House, the Warriors toured the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
In his speech Monday night, Kerr acknowledged that becoming politically active can be risky for a sports figure.
“I can see the ‘shut up and whistle’ tweets going out right now,” he said. “But I also knew, after being asked as an American citizen, that it was too important to not speak out in an election of this magnitude.”
