In light of the tragic death of Terence Crutcher earlier this week, Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr believes every American should be "disgusted" by the killing of unarmed black people, instead of being consumed by Colin Kaepernick's nonviolent protest of kneeling during the playing of the national anthem.
"No matter what side of the spectrum you are on, I would hope that every American is disgusted with what is going on around the country, with what happened in Tulsa two days ago, Terence Crutcher," Kerr told Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated. "It doesn’t matter what side you’re on, on the Kaepernick stuff, you better be disgusted about things that are happening. And so, I understand people who are offended by his stance. Maybe they have a military family member who is offended. Maybe they lost somebody in a war and the flag and the anthem means a lot more to them than someone else."
Kerr defended Kaepernick's right to protest the national anthem, adding that, like Victor Oladipo, he believes the NBA will follow the NFL's lead. "But then you flip it around, what about a nonviolent protest? This is America. This is what our country is about. It’s a nonviolent protest. It’s what it should be about. I think Colin has really clarified his message over the last couple of weeks," Kerr said. "I think that something similar will happen in the NBA. Nobody has to be right. Nobody has to be wrong. I would hope everyone would respect each other’s point of view. There are valid points of view on both sides."
Kerr said he will "absolutely talk to his players as a team" before the first game of the season to ensure that everyone is on the same page on how they will treat the playing of the national anthem. "In my mind, as long as the message is clear, I’m all for people speaking out against injustice no matter what form that takes," Kerr said. "If it’s nonviolent and leads to conversation, then I think that’s beautiful."
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