© Erik Williams-USA TODAY Sports
Steve Kerr has endeared himself to many for his candor and willingness to elaborate on how he views social issues. So, it should be no surprise that he responded thoughtfully Thursday morning, several hours before the Warriors play the Rockets in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals, when asked about the NFL’s recent mandate regarding the national anthem.
Wednesday morning, the NFL ruled that teams must stand for the anthem if they are on the field, but they are allowed to remain in the locker room during the anthem if they choose. If a team kneels, it will be fined.
“It’s just typical of the NFL,” Kerr told reporters. “They’re just playing to their fanbase. Basically, (they are) just trying to use the anthem as fake patriotism, nationalism, scaring people. It’s idiotic. But that’s how the NFL has conducted their business.”
Kerr echoed the NFL Players Association’s response to the mandate. The union lamented the contradictory nature of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s explanation to implement the anthem rule, saying he encourages patriotism, when it seems he is stripping it by micromanaging teams.
The NBA, conversely, has long encouraged activism, most recently under current NBA commissioner Adam Silver. Many of the NBA’s most prominent players have blasted the current Oval Office without fear of being fined or reprimanded.
In the past, players have worn warmup shirts memorialized for citizens killed in police brutality incidents. Earlier this year, the NBA created ‘NBA Voices,’ a plan to feature players’ work in the community.
“I’m proud to be in a league that understands patriotism in America is about free speech and peacefully protesting,” Kerr continued. “Our leadership in the NBA understands when the NFL players were kneeling, they were kneeling to protest police brutality, to protest racial inequality. They weren’t disrespecting the flag or the military. But our president decided to make it about that, and the NFL followed suit, pandered to their fanbase (and) created this hysteria. It’s kind of what’s wrong in our country right now: people in high places are trying to divide us, divide loyalties, make this about the flag as if the flag is something other than what it really is, which is a representation of what we’re about, which is diversity, peaceful protests, right to free speech. It’s ironic, actually.”
