Bearded Warriors Coach Steve Kerr Gives A Shout Out To Essential Workers
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- Looking like he's spent time on a deserted island with Tom Hanks, Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr took time Wednesday night to give a shout out to essential workers in the San Francisco Bay Area during a social media chat with South Bay Congressman Ro Khanna.
Kerr's youthful look while he guided the Warriors to five straight NBA Finals appearances and three titles has disappeared during his months of being shelter-at-home like millions of other Bay Area residents.
He joined Khanna in an Instagram live chat looking more than Tom Hanks after months of being stranded on a deserted Pacific island in the movie "Cast Away." Kerr's hair was a bit unkempt and his bearded was mostly gray.
Click To Watch A Replay Of The Chat
"Well I lost my razor blade during the quarantine," the Warriors coach quipped.
The two began the chat off by discussing the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the Bay Area. Khanna asked Kerr about how the outbreak has redefined the term -- essential worker.
"Just the perspective the quarantine has brought," Kerr said. "It has allowed all of us to take a step back and say -- 'Wow.' Essential means the people who are allowing us to function every single day in the manner we are used to doing so. Just going and buying groceries -- the people who are supplying all of the food and getting the food in the trucks to the stores and the people who are working in the grocery stores at the cash registers."
"Without them we would not be able to feed our families and be at home during the quarantine and fight this virus," he continued. "I think it has given us a whole new perspective on what essential really means."
Khanna asked Kerr about the essential workers within the NBA, not just the stars who make the newspaper.
"We have a close to 400 employees with the Warriors and you can imagine all of the different roles our employees play from ticket sellers to marketing and community service, the arena workers night after night coming to prepare and clean the arena, and all the concession workers, Kerr said. "It really does take the entire organization to put on a game."
But then the pair talked about the current state of the NBA which has been shutdown since mid-March.
"We're probably looking at playing some games, or I should say we are preparing to play some games without fans," the Warriors coach said. "That might be the first step, but we don't know at this point. The organization is getting ready for what the league and city asks of us...For those of us on the basketball side, we are just trying to do our best to do as much work as we can to prepare for either a return this season or the start of next season in the fall."
While Khanna said they had begun the conversation about grocery workers, he added that sports will play a vital role in society's return to the new normal. Did Kerr have any advice for Warriors fans dealing with all the issues surrounding being quarantined and without familiar emotional outlets like sports?
"I'm very fortunate to have my family with me during the quarantine," Kerr said. "My wife and I, being empty nesters, are taking advantage of spending time with our kids, who are home with us right now. We are spending a lot of time together, we're cooking a lot more than we have in the past especially when we were more on the run and likely to pick up something fast...spending more time at the dinner table, may be watching a movie or something...To spend time together has been a real blessing for us."
