Warriors Coach Steve Kerr Says Team Shocked By Trump Election
OAKLAND (CBS SF) – If the Golden State Warriors win the NBA Championship this season, it will be interesting to see what their reaction will be when it comes to the traditional White House visit to be congratulated by the president.
Two years ago, the team was overjoyed to spend time with President Barack Obama. They joked with the president, took selfies and toured the White House with the same amazement as a high school class.
It will likely be much the same for the Cleveland Cavaliers and LeBron James who are at the White House on Thursday to be saluted for their championship last season.
But when asked about his and his team's reaction to Trump's victory on Thursday, Kerr admitted that he and the players were stunned and had held a team meeting that morning to talk about their feelings.
"We talked about it as a team this morning," Kerr told reporters. "I don't know what else to say. Just the whole process has left all of us feeling kind of disgusted and disappointed. I thought we were better than this."
"I thought "The Jerry Springer Show" was "The Jerry Springer Show". Watching the last debate, Trump would make a crack at Clinton and you could hear the fans, the stands, 'Ooooohhhh,' like 'Ohhh, no he didn't,' 'Yooo, yeah he did.' This is a presidential election. It's not "The Jerry Springer Show". I'm sorry. This is my rant. I'm disappointed in the lack of respect and dignity that's involved, and that's the way it goes."
It was not just in the lockerroom where Kerr had to deal with the disappointment of others. It was also in his front room.
"Then you walk into a room with your daughter and your wife who have basically been insulted by his (Trump's) comments and they're distraught," he said. "Then you walk in and see the faces of your players, most of them who have been insulted directly as minorities, it's very shocking. It really is."
Like Kerr, Warriors forward David West expressed his frustration after Wednesday morning's practice.
"The message was loud and clear last night," said West, who is African-American. "I don't think there's any room to sort of not face the obvious truth. He speaks for the majority of the people in this nation, his attitudes about black people, about Muslim people, about women, about just about every sort of political group you can name."
"Folks agree with his positions, and you can't deny that because folks voted for him. So, I think, throw that on the table. So this whole fairy-tale about some post-racial, this utopia that Obama supposedly created, it's all bull. That's the bottom line when you look at what the results say from last night. This nation has not moved a thread in terms of its ideals."
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