Steve Kerr says he's waiting for the day when someone "restores dignity" to the White House.
Earlier this week, President Donald Trump criticized the Golden State coach over the way he handled a question regarding the recent standoff between China and the NBA. Kerr, vocal critic of POTUS' policies, called the situation "a really bizarre international story," and admitted that he didn't "know what to make of it."
Trump didn't hesitate to mock Kerr's seemingly tepid answer, and referred to the coach as "a little boy" who "was so scared to be even answering the question." But it appears Kerr wasn't too fazed by the comments.
"You stop and you think 'Well, this is every day,'" he said prior to Golden State's preseason game against the Timberwolves on Thursday. "I was just the shiny object, and there’s another one today, and there’ll be another one tomorrow, and the circus will go on."
Kerr then took some time to reflect on his first ever visit to the White House in 1984, just six months after his father, Malcolm Hooper Kerr, was killed in a terrorist attack in Beirut, Lebanon.
"President Reagan and Vice President Bush invited us (he and his mom) into the Oval Office ... thanking us for my dad’s commitment to trying to share American values in the Middle East. Trying to promote peace in the Middle East," Kerr recalled. "And all I can think of last night is the contrast in what has happened in 35 years. There was no regard for whose side you were on, politically—political party, or anything like that. It was just you were an American. The office held such dignity and respect both from the people who were visiting and especially from the people who sat inside it. And it’s just sad that it’s come crashing down and that we are now living this."
He continued: "I realize the horse was out of the barn a long time ago, but for me, personally, this was my experience with, 'Wow, has the office sunken low.' My hope is that we can find a mature unifier from either party to sit in that chair and try to restore some dignity to the Oval Office."
During the Thursday night press conference, Kerr was asked why he has hesitated to take a firm stance on the tensions between the league and the Chinese government. The coach kept it 100, saying he was simply too unfamiliar with the matter, but has made the effort to do some research over the last several days.
"What’s going on in our country, I’m very comfortable talking about what’s going on in our country. I’m a citizen of this country," Kerr said. "It’s hard for me to make a comment about something that impacts so many people, different countries, different governments and not really feeling comfortable being in the midst of it, I think it makes more sense to lay low. And be a scared little boy."
