After guiding the Golden State Warriors to fend off the Memphis Grizzlies 121-116 on Tuesday, April 15, to book a playoff berth, coach Steve Kerr waged a bigger battle after his first play-in tournament win.
Kerr made a defiant stand against the Trump administration with a statement shirt postgame.
The Warriors coach proudly wore a Harvard University shirt in a show of solidarity with the Ivy League school in their fight against the Trump administration over a set of demands that they believe curtails freedom of speech.
“I felt like a great day to wear it,” Kerr told reporters.
According to Kerr, the shirt was a gift from Harvard men’s basketball coach Tommy Amaker when the Warriors had practice in the school’s facility before a November game in Boston against the defending champion Celtics.
“I believe in academic freedom,” Kerr said. “I think it’s crucial for all of our institutions to be able to handle their own business the way they want to and they should not be shaken down and told what to teach or what to say by our government. That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard but it’s kind of par for the course right now. So, yes this is me supporting Harvard, my way to go to stand up to the bully.”
Steve Kerr Echoes Harvard President’s Strong Statement
Kerr’s defiant message to the Trump administration echoed Harvard’s president, Alan Garber, who wrote a statement on Monday, April 14, condemning the Trump administration’s demands which he said violate “Harvard’s First Amendment rights and [exceed] the statutory limits of the government’s authority.”
“No government — regardless of which party is in power — should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue,” Garber wrote.
Politico reported on Tuesday that federal officials have frozen more than $2 billion in grants to the university after it refused to comply with the “policy changes requested by the Trump administration, including to crack down on student protests, change admissions and hiring practices and submit to government audits.”
Steve Kerr Backs Losing Presidential Candidate
Kerr, alongside Warriors franchise star Stephen Curry, endorsed Kamala Harris in the past presidential elections.
Harris was a former Attorney General in California and served as vice president under Joe Biden’s term. She was also a self-confessed Warriors fan.
On August 19, 2024, Kerr took the stage at the DNC in support of Harris’s presidential campaign.
“I know very well that speaking out about politics these days comes with risks,” Kerr said at the United Center, where he captured three consecutive championships with the Bulls between 1995 and 1998. “I can see the ‘shut up and whistle’ tweets being fired off as we speak. But I also knew, as soon as I was asked, that it was too important as an American citizen not to speak up in an election of this magnitude.”
Kerr invoked Curry’s signature celebration to close his speech.
“After the results are tallied that night, we can, in the words of the great Steph Curry, we can tell Donald Trump, ‘Night Night.’”
Steve Kerr: “After the results are tallied that night, we can, in the words of the great Steph Curry, we can tell Donald Trump, ‘Night Night.'” #DNC pic.twitter.com/zaAcbooAbV
— CSPAN (@cspan) August 20, 2024
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Unfortunately for Kerr and the Democrats, Republican candidate Trump defeated Harris to return to the Oval Office in the White House for his second term.
