Sportscaster Ernie Johnson took to the air on Thursday after the 2016 election and delivered the message America and anti-Trump protesters need to hear, in the midst of mobs rioting and looting around the country.
Ernie Johnson says it perfectly. pic.twitter.com/aH5r13OZsm
— ⓂarcusD2.0 (@_MarcusD2_) November 11, 2016
The hopeful rhetoric from Johnson comes at a time when NBA head coaches Stan Van Gundy of the Detroit Pistons and Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors sounded off on Donald Trump’s victory over Hillary Clinton. It started on Nov. 9 when Van Gundy, whose Pistons were in Phoenix to play the Suns, noticed the team was quiet on the bus ride over to the arena. Backup center Aron Baynes told him that the squad was reflecting on Trump’s election. Van Gundy took that statement and turned it into a 6-minute rant to the press after Detroit lost later that night. From the Detroit Free Press:
“It’s embarrassing. I have been ashamed of a lot of things that have happened in this country, but I can’t say I’ve ever been ashamed of our country until today. Until today. We all have to find our way to move forward, but that was — and I’m not even trying to make a political statement. To me, that’s beyond politics…You don’t get to come out and talk about people like that, and then lead our country and have millions of Americans embrace you. I’m having a hard time being with people. I’m going to walk into this arena tonight and realize that — especially in this state — most of these people voted for the guy. Like, (expletive), I don’t have any respect for that. I don’t…It’s incredible. I don’t know how you go about it, if you’re a person of color today or a Latino. Because white society just said to you, again — not like we haven’t forever — but again, and emphatically, that I don’t think you deserve equality.”
Van Gundy left the room without even commenting on the game (Phoenix over Detroit 107-100). What the coach overlooked was the fact that Donald Trump actually improved on racial demographics from Mitt Romney in 2012 (29% of the Hispanic and 8% of the black vote). What was more amazing was the insult of not just some Phoenix Suns fans, but really any NBA or sports fan who voted for Trump. The coach also forgets that Trump flipped the state of Michigan, as his message reached droves of working class voters. Does he have any respect for those Pistons fans who voted for Trump and whose gate receipts pay his salary?
Warriors coach Steve Kerr was then asked about Van Gundy’s comments and added two minutes of his own:
Here are Steve Kerr’s complete comments on Donald Trump and the election. Do read: pic.twitter.com/SxOTduQL4z
— Erik Malinowski (@erikmal) November 10, 2016
While more benign than the statement out of Phoenix, Kerr’s comments come with unfortunate timing. The city the Warriors play in, Oakland, CA, has already seen broken windows and police cars lit on fire. Seattle has seen two life-threatening injuries after shots were fired in that city’s protest. Kerr should’ve either focused on similar, healing language like Johnson, or simply refrained from comment.
As a conservative sports junkie, I have now chosen to boycott the NBA. I will not watch nor attend any games. I protest not with violence, but with my wallet. If you’re a Pistons, Warriors, NBA, or sports nut in general who exercised your right as an American and selected the candidate that represented your interests, and reject this angry, divisive rhetoric from the left, I encourage you to join me. The NBA, and all leagues, should take a lesson from the NFL’s declining ratings. Fans go to sports to escape from politics. They do NOT want the two to mix.
