Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr stopped reporters at Chase Center on Wednesday after practice to bring up Tuesday’s midterm elections, even though nobody had asked him about it.
“I’m disappointed, because I was looking forward to that $5,000 check that we were all gonna get,” Kerr said, referencing President Trump. “I already spent it, in fact. And I was so excited and sure about it that I spent it already. So now I’m gonna have to figure something out.”
Kerr has a long record of inserting himself into political debates. He endorsed Kamala Harris, spoke at the Democratic National Convention, and borrowed Stephen Curry’s “night night” celebration to mock Trump. Warriors owner Joe Lacob has publicly said Kerr “sometimes goes a little far” with his political commentary.
But Kerr’s record of political commentary has not always held up under scrutiny. He has said he stayed silent on China’s treatment of Hong Kong because of the NBA’s financial interests there, and he has said he regrets calling Trump a “buffoon.”
In January, after a Warriors road trip to Minnesota, Kerr told reporters that ICE agents were not pursuing violent criminals and instead were detaining kindergartners and American citizens. When pressed on the agency’s actual enforcement and arrest numbers, Kerr backed off the claim.
“You’re right, I definitely misspoke, and I knew that ICE was arresting some criminals,” Kerr said. “I misspoke, and I apologize for the misinformation.”
When a follow-up question came, Kerr cut off the conversation. “All right, let’s talk about basketball,” he told the room.
On Wednesday, with no political questions pending from the assembled reporters, Kerr brought up the midterms himself.
