Steph, Kerr praise Ralph Walker's poem about being a Black man

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The common fan might not know who Ralph Walker is, but for the Warriors, he's a valuable member of the franchise.

Walker served as the director of team security for the Warriors from 2011 through July 2018, briefly retired, and then returned a little over a year later.

With Black History Month coming to a close Sunday, Walker wrote a poem on what it's like to be a Black man, and the Warriors posted a video of him reading it Saturday.

"I heard a man say my sin is my skin. I shook my head to think how can I win. It's a constant struggle to show who I am, but frankly, they don't give a damn. When I wondered 'How can this be?' I have the same flesh and blood as he, my mind starts racing looking to find a resolution, there's got to be one in the U.S. Constitution. All men are created equal, will my time come in a sequel? Before this horror story ends, I'm proud of the skin I'm in. I want to have a discussion, or even a debate, on why the world is full of so much hate. I'm tired of all the distraction and ready for our leaders to take some action. They are the ones who can create a plan that's comparable for every man, or will we continue to have distrust, which could lead to the demise of all of us?"

Steph Curry and Steve Kerr know Walker very well, and they praised him for his poem and for the person that he is.

As NBC Sports Bay Area's Monte Poole detailed in Aug. 2019, Walker, a retired Oakland police officer, has been Curry's shadow for much of the last decade, serving as the personal protection for the two-time NBA MVP.

RELATED: Curry hopes celebration of Black excellence becomes more commonplace

In Oct. 2019, Curry explained how Walker came out of retirement, saying that someone on his Under Armour team joked about the security guard returning while they were on a trip in Asia. Walker said he would come back, and Curry was so shocked, he had to record it on his phone to make sure Walker didn't back out.

It's clear from their tweets that Curry and Kerr love and respect Walker, both professionally and personally.

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