Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka reminded fans that the NBA playoffs were not "life or death" following the harrowing events in America last week.
A gunman killed 19 young children and two adults at a primary school in Uvalde in south Texas. The 18-year-old, who was carrying an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, was then killed by law enforcement.
As a result, Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr used a media conference to make an impassioned plea to American senators to change gun laws. He said: "I'm tired. I am so tired of getting up here and offering condolences to the devastated families that are out there."
And after the Celtics celebrated a 100-96 game seven victory over the Miami Heat, setting up a finals clash with the Golden State, Udoka also spoke out: "One thing I do want to say and bring awareness to: As we're all celebrating this win, I can't help but think — you know, when I talk to my son, a 10-year-old — I think about Uvalde and what's happened.
"We talk about this game that we love and put all our passion into. It's not life or death. We win or we lose, we go home and kiss our kids. You move on either way. We'll be happy if we win and we would be down if we lost. But you sit back and think about 19 children and two adults that don't get that. That's life or death. That's real."
And Udoka, who took over the Celtics in 2021, said he was concerned that the memories of the tragedy were already dwindling in some people's minds. "That's something that I don't want to be forgotten," he continued.
"The awareness of that. It just happened a week ago, and it seems to be pushed in people's memory already. Change is needed. It's a game that we play. Regardless of the result, it's not life or death. Bottom line. Just keep that in our minds."
His words seemed to strike a chord with fans, who echoed his sentiments on social media. @galenw tweeted: "My coach keeps it real," while @RWoodson20 added: "He and Kerr are of one accord. Thank you, Coach."
Sports writer @ronkroichick said: "I don’t know much about Celtics coach Ime Udoka, but this is impressive and important," while @annkillion just wrote: "Thank you."
The first of potentially seven final games takes place on Thursday, June 2, with the Celtics having reached this stage for the first time since 2010. Udoka did tell NBC Sports his side would draw confidence from previous meetings this season.
"We played Golden State pretty well this year," he said. "Obviously, beat them pretty bad late in the season when we were kind of rolling. Early in the season, took a close loss and we had some guys in and out. They had a big lead early but we fought our way back.
"So the story of the season, we've competed well against the best teams, and obviously you've got to do that to make it to this point now." The Celtics last took the title in 2008, with the Warriors' latest success coming in 2018 under Kerr.
