Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr diverted attention away from basketball and called for U.S. lawmakers to revise gun controls after a school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, resulted in the deaths of 19 children.
Gunman Salvador Ramos, 18, is understood to have entered Robb Elementary School near midday local time on Tuesday. It's reported he also killed two teachers and his grandmother before being shot down by police, bringing the total death count to 23 as of Wednesday morning.
The Texas tragedy is the 27th school shooting to happen in the United States so far this year, already nearing 2021's all-time high of 34 shootings. Speaking prior to Tuesday's NBA play-off between the Dallas Mavericks and his Warriors, Kerr appealed for drastic change in the wake of another massacre.
“When are we going to do something?” raged the coach prior to his side's play-off game. “I’m tired. I am so tired of getting up here and offering condolences to the devastated families that are out there. I am so tired of the, excuse me, I am sorry, I am tired of the moments of silence. Enough!”
The eight-time NBA champion (five times as a player, three times as a coach) choked back tears as he addressed reporters in Dallas, Texas. The Warriors travelled to Texas leading 3-0 in their best-of-seven Western Conference Final, but the Mavericks pulled one back with a 119-109 win at home on Tuesday.
Kerr has long campaigned for tighter gun controls and has frequently voiced his support for bills calling for more thorough background checks on prospective owners. His late father, Malcolm—a former university professor specialising in the Arab world—was shot dead in 1984 in Beirut, Lebanon, where Kerr was born.
The tactician struggled to hide his emotions at times during the impassioned speech, slamming his fist on the table as he repeated he was "tired" of repeating the same condolences without sign of reform. He later gazed into the camera as part of a direct appeal to Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell.
“I ask you, Mitch McConnell, I ask all of you senators who refuse to do anything about the violence and school shootings and supermarket shootings," said Kerr. "I ask you: Are you going to put your own desire for power ahead of the lives of our children and our elderly and our churchgoers? Because that’s what it looks like. It’s what we do every week.”
The Warriors and the Mavericks held a moment's silence prior to Tuesday's game in order to mourn those slain in the Uvalde shooting. Kerr's side need just one more win to advance to the Finals as Western champions, with either the Miami Heat or Boston Celtics set to represent the East.
