\n\u201cWe are in different times,\u201d says Cadogan, the executive director of the coalition. \u201cEven the fact that we have the National Basketball Social Justice Coalition is an indicator of the different times, obviously dating back to 2020, where a lot of people were focused on: How do we get engaged as individuals and institutions in the work of social justice?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Warriors\u2019 using their White House meeting to discuss gun laws is a logical extension of the movement, and \u201csomething that I think we should expect going forward,\u201d Cadogan says. In November, Thunder players visited the White House and engaged administration officials on criminal justice, health and education. \u201cThe more of these conversations that NBA leaders get to have, and more broadly, the more that we have exchanges between civil society and our lawmakers and executives, the better,\u201d Cadogan says.<\/p>\n\nAnd, says Sen. Murphy, the more that athletes use their platform to advocate for social change, the better. Murphy has been working for stricter gun laws since the Sandy Hook school shooting in December 2012, which happened a month after his election to the Senate. The school is located in the House district he previously represented. It\u2019s taken a decade to build a gun safety movement that can equal the might of the National Rifle Association. But Murphy sees progress\u2014and says speeches like Kerr\u2019s play an important role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\nA dedicated Celtics fan, Murphy says he was scrolling through Twitter for NBA news that night when he first saw the video of Kerr. \u201cI knew that it was going to blow up, the minute I heard that first line,\u201d Murphy says.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not going to talk about basketball.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\u201cThat line was so, so powerful,\u201d Murphy says, \u201cbecause it was permission for everybody else to stop and recognize the gravity of what we just watched. Because I think in the era of mass shootings, some people don\u2019t know whether they\u2019re supposed to sort of stop and grieve, or whether they\u2019re just supposed to move on, if they happen all the time. And what Kerr was saying is: This is still earthshaking, that this could happen in a school, and it\u2019s so much more important than an NBA game. \u2026 It challenges other people to step up and do something in their own lives to meet the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\nThe legislation Kerr pleaded for last spring\u2014the Bipartisan Background Checks Act, which had been approved by the House\u2014never did win sufficient support in the Senate. But a month after Uvalde, Congress did pass the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, considered the most significant new gun-safety legislation in three decades. Biden signed it into law June 25.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we are at a turning point,\u201d Murphy says. \u201cThe passage of that bill is proof that there is now a bipartisan coalition in favor of strengthening our [gun] laws.\u201d<\/p>\n\nMurphy adds, \u201cI think what the Warriors recognize is that this actually isn\u2019t a very controversial issue. It\u2019s made to look controversial. But actually, 90 percent of Americans think you should have a background check on every gun sale. So sometimes sports figures don\u2019t want to wade into issues that might split their fan base. The issue of guns actually doesn\u2019t split a sports franchise\u2019s fan base, if you\u2019re talking about things like universal background checks. I\u2019ve been so proud of the NBA generally for supporting players\u2019 and coaches\u2019 right to speak up, and I\u2019ve been very specifically proud of Steve and his players.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Kerr is careful to describe the work as gun safety<\/em> advocacy, not \u201cgun control,\u201d a term that he says alienates a large swath of the public that might otherwise support common-sense reform. (\u201cBecause nobody wants to be \u2018controlled,\u2019\u201d he notes.) In addition to background checks, Kerr is supporting a Brady campaign called End Family Fire, which is aimed at requiring gun owners to lock up their firearms in their homes.<\/p>\n\n\u201cEight children a day in America are killed by guns, unlocked guns, in the house,\u201d Kerr says. \u201cSo you start this program called End Family Fire. Who in their right mind would be opposed to end family fire? It\u2019s not about gun control. It\u2019s not about controlling your life or, you know, taking away your freedom. It\u2019s about protecting your child, and your child\u2019s friends, or the people in your house.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cThis whole issue has to be addressed with everyone in mind,\u201d Kerr adds, \u201cbecause it\u2019s the only way to take the issue back from all the people in the political world who just use it as an emotional cudgel. Which is so awful, because people are losing their lives every day. And these solutions are out there. \u2026 There are solutions where you can get your Second Amendment rights, but we protect people.\u201d<\/p>\n\nA 45-minute summit tucked into an NBA championship celebration might not, on its own, change the course of U.S. policy. But it was an opportunity to raise public awareness and nudge the movement forward. Kerr, who has won nine titles as a player and coach, had made these White House visits countless times before. None were like this. <\/p>\n\n\n\nIt was, also, unfortunately timely. The previous morning, six people had been shot and killed in their home in a small town in California\u2019s San Joaquin Valley. Five days later came a mass shooting in Monterey Park, Calif., leaving 11 dead. And two days after that, another mass shooting in Half Moon Bay, with seven dead.<\/p>\n\nSo Kerr will keep speaking out, keep donating to Brady, March for Our Lives and the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, keep working with Live Free. And despite everything he\u2019s seen\u2014the continued violence, the intransigence of lawmakers and the gun lobby\u2014Kerr says he remains hopeful.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe in the young generation,\u201d he says. \u201cThe March for Our Lives kids are so inspiring. And it might take another 30 years to just get the next generation in office, 20 years, to [vote out] all these kooks who are going to support semiautomatic weapons of mass murder over the possibility of losing their political career. Maybe the next generation will be filled with people who actually have a conscience. And I think that\u2019s going to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n