Steve Kerr responds to President Trump’s ‘little boy’ comment: ‘It’s just sad’

A day after President Trump called Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr a “little boy,” Kerr responded with a lengthy musing about the deterioration of American politics and its executive branch.

“I was thinking about my various visits to the White House,” Kerr told reporters. “I’ve lived a privileged life and met, I think, the past five previous presidents prior to President Trump.

“The first one was in 1984 and Ronald Reagan was president. He invited my mom and me six months after my dad was killed in a terrorist attack. President Reagan and Vice President [George H.W.] Bush invited us into the Oval Office, spent about half an hour with us thanking us for my dad’s service — he was in education. Thanking us for my dad’s commitment to American values in the Middle East. Trying to promote peace in the Middle East. And all I could think of last night was the contrast of what has happened in 35 years. There was no regard for whose side you were on politically. Political party, anything like that. It was just, you were an American. The office held such dignity and respect. Both from the people who were visiting and especially the people who sat inside it. It’s just sad it’s come crashing down. That we are now living this.”

The former Bulls point guard visited the Clinton White House after the team’s second three-peat in 1996, 1997 and 1998.

Kerr and Trump’s back and forth occurred in the context of the NBA’s struggle to mollify both Chinese and American interests. After a controversial tweet from Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey angered many Chinese fans, the NBA responded with a statement of regret, which was subsequently criticized by Americans.

It has become so hard to placate both sides of the Pacific that the NBA has canceled press conferences for the rest of its China tour and a Rockets spokesman did not allow James Harden or Russell Westbrook to answer a question from a CNN reporter about the matter.

As a result, Kerr deflected on all successive questions regarding Morey or China.

“There’s this issue and that issue,” Kerr said. “The world is a complex place, and there’s more gray than black and white. I realize that what’s popular these days is making it black and white. You’re either good or you’re evil. It’s convenient to do things that way, but not realistic.”