Steph Curry on the Donald Trump tweet at Kerr and the evolving situation between the NBA and China pic.twitter.com/BTBG4Jt6JS
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) October 9, 2019
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump said this about Steve Kerr’s effective no-comment when he was asked about the ongoing situation between China and the NBA:
“I watch this guy Steve Kerr and he was like a little boy who was scared to be even answering the question,” Trump said during a press conference. “He couldn’t answer the question, he was shaking. (imitating Kerr) ‘Ohh, I don’t know, I don’t know.’ He didn’t know how to answer the question, and yet he’ll talk about the United States very badly.
“I watched Popovich, sort of the same thing, but he didn’t look quite as scared actually.”
Here’s Trump mocking Steve Kerr pic.twitter.com/5uP67tBNxB
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 9, 2019
Shortly after, Stephen Curry was asked for his thoughts on the issue.
“I just heard about the Trump thing, I’ve gotta welcome Steve to the club,” Curry joked, referring to a previous instance where Trump angrily tweeted at Curry for saying he didn’t want to visit the White House. “First and foremost, that’s kind’ve par for the course there. We’ve obviously been pretty outspoken for as long as I can remember in terms of our organization and all that.
“It’s weird just cause I’d figure (Trump) would have better things to do with his time. Those kind of conversations you hope are just productive, whatever the issue is or whatever the narrative is, hopefully the majority reaction is people figuring out a solution to what we’re talking about or having productive conversations instead of throwing words or 140-character tweets at people. It is what it is.”
This all started with a now deleted tweet by Rockets GM Daryl Morey, that read: “Fight For Freedom. Stand With Hong Kong.” The tweet was quickly followed by a response from Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta, who said that the Morey does not speak for the Rockets, and that the team is not a political organization. Morey swiftly apologized.
China responded by aggressively to Morey’s comments, ending their affiliation with the Houston Rockets, and cancelling a number of NBA events slated to take place in China this week.
The NBA also released a series of statements, supporting Morey by saying they stand firmly on the side of free speech.
This led to Kerr and others being asked about the issue yesterday.
“Actually, I don’t,” Kerr said when asked if he had a comment. “It’s a really bizarre international story and a lot of us don’t know what to make of it. It’s something I’m reading about, just like everybody is. But I’m not going to comment further than that.
“What I’ve found is that it’s easy to speak on issues that I’m passionate about and that I feel like I’m well-versed on,” Kerr said. “And I’ve found that it makes the most sense to stick to topics that fall in that category. So, I try to keep my comments to those things. So, it’s not difficult. It’s more … that I’m trying to learn.”
Kerr’s next availability is before Thursday’s preseason game.
