Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr has struggled with back pain (and subsequent complications from back surgery) for two seasons.
The pain became too unbearable and Kerr had to concede control of the team over to lead assistant Mike Brown.
Despite not currently coaching the team on the floor, Kerr made headlines when he took unprovoked shots at Donald Trump, something he’s done in the past.
Kerr slammed Trump for not having leadership qualities.
From USA Today:
Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr, echoing the comments of San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, harshly criticized President Donald Trump in an interview with Sports Illustrated.
Kerr, while answering a question about what it takes to be a successful coach, described how the game has changed since the fiery Bob Knight era. In doing so, he distinguished between Knight and Trump by tabbing the President “ill-suited” and a “blowhard.”
“My personal opinion is Bobby Knight’s way smarter than Donald Trump,” Kerr said. “Bobby Knight was brilliant in a lot of ways. So there was some real foundation in terms of knowing and coaching the game. But he was a bully, so… I think being a bully doesn’t work today, or at least it doesn’t work coaching. The modern coach has to be much more communicative, flexible, aware, conscientious, all those things.
“Frankly, I think it’s why Trump couldn’t be more ill-suited to be president, because he’s a blowhard. You don’t see some of the qualities you talk about, the resilience, the ability to communicate, the compassion. None of that. But in the old days, a lot of great coaches who maybe didn’t have those, there was still a fiber there, whatever it was. To be a great leader, there have to be some qualities in there.
“Has anyone ever thought that Donald Trump was a great leader?”
Kerr, who has not coached since Game 2 of the first round of the NBA playoffs while hampered by back issues, has previously spoken out against Trump — after he won the election in November and after Trump’s executive order for the initial travel ban.
Kerr has a personal perspective on the travel ban, as his father was a victim of terrorism when Kerr was a student athlete at the University of Arizona.
From a 1984 New York Times article:
The president of the American University of Beirut, Malcolm H. Kerr, was killed here today when unidentified gunmen fired two bullets into his head while he was walking to his office.
Soon after the killing of the 52-year- old educator, a male caller telephoned the Beirut office of Agence France- Presse and said the slaying was the work of Islamic Holy War [a precursor Hezbollah] – supposedly a pro-Iranian underground group.
Callers saying they were from Islamic Holy War took responsibility for bombing the American Embassy in Beirut last April 18 and the attack against the Marine compound here on Oct. 23. But the police have no evidence that the group actually exists. Dr. Kerr’s assailants escaped after the attack.
‘We Are Responsible’
The Islamic Holy War caller told Agence France-Presse in Arabic: ”We are responsible for the assassination of the president of the American University of Beirut, who was a victim of the American military presence in Lebanon. We also vow that not a single American or Frenchman will remain on this soil.”
The caller added that Islamic Holy War also kidnapped the Saudi consul, Hussein Farrash, on Tuesday and that he was ”being tried according to Islamic law and we will soon throw out his body.”
Dr. Kerr’s predecessor, David S. Dodge, acting president of the university, was kidnapped in July 1982 by pro- Iranian gunmen and taken to Teheran via Baalbek and Damascus. Mr. Dodge was released last July 21 through the intervention of Syria.
Kerr has always been outspoken and opinionated, which isn’t a surprise, considering his father’s courage in the midst of danger.
Hopefully Kerr’s back heals so he can be back in the news for his deft coaching and team excellence.