The New York Times was surely thrilled to pass on the fear and loathing expressed by several NBA coaches after Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton under their Sunday headline "Emboldened NBA Coaches Rip Donald J. Trump’s Rhetoric." Reporter Scott Cacciola presented a long rant by San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich:
“I’m just sick to my stomach…Not basically because the Republicans won or anything, but the disgusting tenor and tone and all of the comments that have been xenophobic, homophobic, racist, misogynistic. I live in that country where half of the people ignored all of that to elect someone. That’s the scariest part of the whole thing to me.”
He added: “I’m a rich white guy, and I’m sick to my stomach thinking about it. I can’t imagine being a Muslim right now, or a woman, or an African-American, a Hispanic, a handicapped person — how disenfranchised they must feel. And for anyone in those groups that voted for him, it’s just beyond my comprehension how they ignore all of that.
“My final conclusion is, my big fear is: We are Rome.”
For his part, Detroit Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy called Mr. Trump “openly and brazenly racist and misogynistic and ethnic-centric,” and claims he could tell that the election results had affected his players.
“I don’t know how you go about it if you’re a person of color today or a Latino,” he said. “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. We don’t think you deserve respect. And the same with women. That’s what we say today, as a country.”
Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr commented, “People are getting paid millions of dollars to go on TV and scream at each other, whether it’s in sports or politics or entertainment…and I guess it was only a matter of time before it spilled into politics. But then all of a sudden you’re faced with the reality that the man who’s going to lead you has routinely used racist, misogynist, insulting words.”
Cacciola and the Times hoped this would lead to more liberal anti-Trump activism by the NBA elite: "The question moving forward is whether these comments are merely a visceral reaction to the presidential election or whether they will build into something more, emboldening those around the league to speak candidly about a host of political issues."
Not only are political statements finding their way on and off the court, they have also made their way to ESPN, which MRCTV’s Nick Kandagis, jokingly referred to as “Everyone Speaks Politically Now.” In his article, ESPN analysts and former NBA stars Chauncey Billups and Jalen Rose commented on Trump’s presidential win.
Billups commented:
“It’s just disturbing to me. I mean, yesterday before I got on the plane to come here I went by and spent a little time with my grandmother. She’s 82 years-old. She’s from Mississippi, so you can imagine what she’s seen in her lifetime.
We talked a little bit about this Election Day. She was just so nervous that this would happen to be honest with you. For me, I feel bad for her. I feel bad for her generation. They’re seeing men like this [Trump] say the things that they’ve said about women.
For me, I was raised by some very, very strong women. My mother, my grandparents, my aunties who’ve served as grandparents. I’m a dad of three daughters. I fear that the opportunities that have been afforded to some people of different races in this country, they won’t be afforded to my kids. It’s disappointing.”
Rose, on the other hand, viewed Trump as a divide: "Now that Trump is commander-in-chief, we shouldn’t be surprised when multiple athletes decline the opportunity to visit the White House.” Rose semi-walked back his comments, claiming Trump wasn’t the only divisive factor of the election: “He has offended a lot of people. But that’s what happens in politics…It’s not necessarily independent to him, but we can’t sit here and say this has not been one of the most polarizing presidential races for both candidates.”
It’s a shame professional athletes, as well as their entertainment counterparts, can’t just treat their job like any other job – where discussing politics and other issues are generally frowned upon. That would help keep a strong divide between mixing politics with sports or entertainment, causing every TV-watching moment to be a political minefield.
