Golden State Warriors Also Politicize Their Moment Of Silence

Though the Golden State Warriors are now headed to the NBA Finals for the sixth time in eight years, winning basketball games seems to be a secondary focus these days. Ever since the terrible school shooting in Uvalde, Texas on Tuesday, much of the Warriors organization has used its public platform to campaign against the Second Amendment and those in the Republican Party who support it. Now, even the Chase Center announcer and its Jumbotron have gotten involved with the political cause.

During the pre-game ceremony of Game Five against the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday night, the arena announcer gave fans in attendance ways to contribute to political action committees (PACs) which lobby for "sensible gun laws in America." Take a look and a listen:

Immediately after the announcer mentions the anguish of the Uvalde victims and their families and calls for a moment of silence to honor them, he pivots to political activism: "To learn more about how you can support sensible gun laws in America, please visit BradyUnited.org, Giffords.org, or LiveFreeUSA.org."

He wasn't done.

"Also, change starts at the ballot box," the disembodied voice avers, while the crowd cheers. "We encourage you to text 'VOTER' to 26797 to check your registration status."

And now the transformation of Chase Center into satellite headquarters for anti-gun rights activism is complete. Warriors head coach Steve Kerr began the process with his emotionally unhinged pre-game press conference on Tuesday, when he blamed Senate Republicans for blocking gun legislation, even though that legislation would not have prevented the Uvalde tragedy.

Then, Kerr expanded his political role and immediately announced a partnership with Brady Campaign, a PAC which advocates for stricter gun control. On Wednesday, Kerr issued a fundraising letter on behalf of Brady and invoked his own personal connection to gun violence in an attempt to establish himself as an expert on the issue. Only he neglected to elaborate on the circumstances surrounding his personal tragedy because doing so would not fit the narrative that gun violence is a singularly American problem. In 1984, his father, Malcolm Kerr, was murdered by an Islamic extremist group in Beirut, Lebanon. Though heartbreaking, this event had nothing to do with the rash of gun violence we've seen in the United States lately.

Golden State won the game on Thursday and took the Western Conference Finals series 4-1. But the Warriors organization, led by its coach Steve Kerr, seem more focused on political activism than the NBA title that is well within reach.