It wasn’t Steve Kerr’s usual appearance at the United Center in Chicago.
The former Bull and current Warriors coach made a surprise appearance at the Democratic National Convention on Monday, endorsing the Kamala Harris–Tim Walz ticket for the White House.
In a short speech, Kerr talked about his experience coaching the U.S. men’s basketball team to gold at the Paris Olympics recently, and how the players on the team put aside rivalries and statistics for the greater good to win and the pride it gave him in the team and country.
Kerr went on to list the qualities he looks for in leaders such as dignity, honesty, and—among other things—being able to laugh at themselves.
“With Kamala Harris and Tim Walz I see all of those qualities,” Kerr said.
Plenty of active athletes and retired coaches have appeared at political conventions, but Kerr’s appearance is rare for an active coach in a major U.S. men’s league. On the eve of the 2016 election, former President Donald Trump read out an effusive note from Patriots coach Bill Belichick. But Belichick said the note was “not politically motivated” and was about his “friendship” with Trump.
Former Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville was elected to the Senate as an Alabama Republican in 2020 and legendary Indiana coach Bobby Knight endorsed Trump in 2016, but both had retired by then.
Kerr has long been outspoken on politics and has repeatedly called for tighter gun laws in the U.S. His father, Malcolm, was assassinated in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1984 by members of the Islamic Jihad while he was serving as president of the American University there. His experience living overseas and dealing with his father’s passing led Barack Obama’s administration to consider sending him to North Korea to meet Kim Jong Un when the North Korean dictator rose to power in 2012.
In 2022, Kerr had a passionate pregame press conference after the mass murder at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. He again called on politicians to act on gun violence, saying, “We can’t get numb to this.”
Onstage Monday, Kerr commended Walz, a former high school football coach who led Mankato High School in Iowa to its first state title in 1999.
“Coach to coach, that guy’s awesome,” Kerr said. Kerr went on to tell Walz how he shouldn’t have blitzed so much and made a few suggestions to his defensive scheme, adding, “I wanted you to know how I feel every day of the NBA season.”
Kerr closed his speech by saying he planned to spend the days leading up to the election encouraging Americans to go out and vote and invoked the signature sleeping gesture used by Stephen Curry—his star player—before walking offstage.
“After the results are tallied that night, we can, in the words of the great Steph Curry, we can tell Donald Trump ‘night, night,’” Kerr said.
