LOS ANGELES, United States —
Golden State Warriors coach
Steve Kerr made an impassioned plea for gun control in the wake of the Texas
school shooting that left 18 children dead on Tuesday as the US sporting world
reacted with horror over the tragedy.
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Kerr refused to talk about his team's
NBA playoff match with the Dallas Mavericks in a pre-game press conference, held
hours after a teenage gunman opened fire at a school in the Texas town of
Uvalde.
An emotional Kerr, one of the most outspoken
and articulate voices on social issues in American sport, slammed his hand on a
table as he accused US lawmakers who refuse to vote on tougher gun laws of
"holding the American people hostage."
"I'm not going to talk about
basketball," Kerr told reporters shortly before Tuesday's Eastern
Conference finals game four in
Dallas. "Any basketball questions don't
matter.
"Since we left shootaround, 14 children
were killed 400 miles from here, and a teacher. In the last 10 days, we’ve had
elderly black people killed in a supermarket in
Buffalo, we've had Asian
churchgoers killed in Southern California, now we have children murdered at
school.”
“When are we going to do something? I'm
tired. I'm so tired of getting up here and offering condolences to the devastated
families that are out there.”
"I've had enough. We're going to play
the game tonight. But I want every person here, every person listening to this,
to think about your own child or grandchild, mother or father, sister,
brother.”
"How would you feel if this happened to
you today" asked Kerr, whose father was murdered by Islamic militants in
Beirut in 1984.
Kerr reserved the toughest criticism for
members of the US Senate who have refused to vote on legislation that would
introduce stricter background checks for gun owners.
"Fifty Senators in Washington are going
to hold us hostage," Kerr said. "Do you realize that 90 percent of
Americans, regardless of political party, want background checks, universal
background checks? Ninety percent of us.”
"We are being held hostage by 50
Senators in Washington who refuse to even put it to a vote, despite what we the
American people want."
LeBron fury
Kerr's sense of outrage was shared by Los
Angeles Lakers star
LeBron James, who also called for change.
"Like when is enough enough
man!!!," James wrote on Twitter. "These are kids and we keep putting
them in harms way at school. Like seriously, "AT SCHOOL" where it's
suppose to be the safest!
"There simply has to be change. HAS TO
BE!!"
NFL athletes also demanded change. The
Kansas City Chiefs' Super Bowl-winning quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who grew up
in Texas, wrote on Twitter: "Has to stop man...prayers to all the families
in Texas."
Dallas Cowboys defensive star DeMarcus
Lawrence meanwhile tweeted directly at Texas Governor Greg Abbott.
"Who is going to stand up and DEMAND we
have better security at all these schools that can’t afford it????"
Lawrence wrote. "How are our tax dollars not going to those who need the
most protection??!! OUR CHILDREN! ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!"
Former Houston Texans icon J.J. Watt added:
"Devastated doesn’t even begin to describe it. Horrifying horrifying news
out of Texas."
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