SAN FRANCISCO – The NBA, ever aware of America’s curious debate over the plague that is gun violence, made clear its stance Sunday.
On the final day of Wear Orange Weekend, coaches and players of both NBA Finals teams, the Warriors and the Celtics, wore orange T-shirts with the words “End Gun Violence” in block letters across the chest.
“We feel very strongly as a league that it's time for people to take notice and to take part in what should be a nationwide effort to limit the gun violence that's out there,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said before tipoff of Game 2 at Chase Center. “And there are ways to limit it.”
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Wear Orange Weekend touched off Friday with marches across the country for National Gun Violence Awareness Day, which was conceived in 2013 when a young woman named Hadiya Pendleton was shot and killed in Chicago one week after marching in President Barack Obama’s second inaugural parade in Washington D.C.
A recent spate of mass shootings has intensified the movement, and sports figures are lining up to provide support.
Kerr expressed his outrage shortly after the May 24 massacre, with 21 victims, at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. The New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays made the unprecedented move of collaborating to forgo game coverage on May 26 to address gun violence on their social media accounts.
And on Saturday, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich delivered a speech in San Antonio during which he blistered state and national politicians for their inaction on what has become a uniquely American epidemic.
Golden State Warriors
Boston coach Ime Udoka, who spent seven seasons as an assistant under Popovich, understands the gravity of the moment.
“I did not see Pop's speech, but I know how passionate he is about a lot of these issues,” Udoka said. “For me, it's something I spoke about after the Miami game. We play a game that if you win, you're elated and you feel great about it; you lose, you're devastated for the moment but it's not life and death, you still go on.
“The awareness is about things that continue to happen in our communities. They are devastated and their families are devastated and we kind of go on with our normal life and business.”
The tragic events in Uvalde have stirred even some previously indifferent politicians to reconsider the positions, which Kerr hopes will generate the passage meaningful legislation on common-sense gun laws.
“There are proven laws that are waiting to be passed, whether it's background checks or what have you,” he said. “There are things we can do that would not violate people's Second Amendment rights but would save lives.
“The idea behind wearing the shirts for both teams is to make people aware that they can contribute to different gun safety, gun violence prevention groups.
“The biggest thing,” he added, “I think is to vote.”