Never afraid to speak out on social issues, Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr on Thursday delivered a searing takedown of the NFL over its controversial new national anthem policy.
On Wednesday, NFL owners voted in favor of a mandate that will require players who are on the field to stand for the anthem this season.
The new regulations — which allow players to remain in the locker room during the anthem if they so choose but permit teams to fine those who kneel — have drawn widespread criticism. Detractors include the NFLPA, which was not consulted before the vote, and numerous current and former players.
Speaking at Warriors shootaround before Game 5 of the Western Conference finals, Kerr laid into the NFL, calling its new policy “idiotic” and emblematic of what is wrong with the United States.
“It’s just typical of the NFL,” he told reporters, via Anthony Slater of The Athletic. “They’re just playing to their fanbase. Basically just trying to use the anthem as fake patriotism, nationalism, scaring people. It’s idiotic. But that’s how the NFL has conducted its business.
“I’m proud to be in a league that understands patriotism in America is about free speech and peacefully protesting. Our leadership in the NBA understands when the NFL players were kneeling, they were kneeling to protest police brutality, to protest racial inequality. They weren’t disrespecting the flag or the military. But our president decided to make it about that, and the NFL followed suit, pandered to their fanbase, created this hysteria.
“It’s kind of what’s wrong with our country right now — people in high places are trying to divide us, divide loyalties, make this about the flag as if the flag is something other than what it really is — which is a representation of what we’re all about, which is diversity, peaceful protests, right to free speech. It’s ironic, actually.”
Many consider the NBA the most progressive of the four major American sports leagues, though its rulebook does require players to stand for the national anthem. The NBA encourages players to address the crowd before the anthem, however, or to join teammates in producing videos to be played on the arena scoreboard, that speak to social causes that are important to them.
