Last week, the New York Times ran a remarkable profile of Steve Kerr, a steely-nerved role player for five NBA championship teams (he sank the championship-winning shot for the 1997 Chicago Bulls, and won two more titles with the San Antonio Spurs). Kerr went on to become general manager of the Phoenix Suns and a basketball commentator for TNT, and is now head coach of the Golden State Warriors, where he won another title in 2015.
As basketball fans know, Kerr’s father Malcolm was an advocate for Middle East peace and president of the American University of Beirut, when he was assassinated by an Islamist terrorist in 1983 as Lebanon was racked by civil war. The Times article describes how Kerr has gradually become “an echo of his father,” using his visibility to make public pronouncements on issues. This year, Kerr was one of three NBA coaches to speak out against Donald Trump and the coarsening of American political discourse. Kerr has opined on Middle East politics (he thinks the U.S. has been too involved in the region, according to the Times), Black Lives Matter and Colin Kapernick’s anthem protests (“you’d better be disgusted” by police killings), and gun control (Kerr thinks it’s “insane” not to have stronger background checks for firearms purchases).
Steve Kerr has done his best work off the bench, delivering in high-pressure situations again and again. He’d be a great addition to the Democratic bench in Arizona. Kerr grew up in California, but also has ties to the Grand Canyon State. He played basketball at the University of Arizona from 1983 to 1988, played for the Phoenix Suns the following year, and was a Suns executive from 2004 to 2010 (the team, notably, has often branded itself “Los Suns” as a statement of inclusion).
Besides interest in policy, Kerr’s CV checks off a lot of the boxes for a run at Congress:
- Big name recognition thanks to his sports heroism – for fogies like me who remember the ’97 shot and today’s young people watching Kerr coach Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors, the closest thing to a dream team in today’s NBA.
- A hugely compelling personal story, with a family that for generations has represented a hopeful, outward-looking vision of America’s role in the world.
- As an NBA player and coach, spent thirty years working with African-Americans and millionaires, both useful qualities for a Democratic Congressmember.
- Is a millionaire himself, with connections to potential donors in California, Arizona, and even Texas and Illinois, where he played.
- Years of experience communicating on TV, plus beach-boy looks (Detroit’s Stan Van Gundy also spoke out against Trump, but wouldn’t look nearly as good on the stump).
- Responsibility for managing 6 assistant coaches and a team of 15 basketball players. Coincidentally, this is the same size as a Congressional office, which is capped by law at 22 staff.
- Comfort with a grueling travel schedule. The 82-game NBA season means teams travel up to 53,000 miles a year, which makes campaign season look like a fun road trip.
Oh, and Breitbart already seems to hate him. What else you could you ask for in a candidate?
Kerr’s statements on gun control make him a hard sell for statewide office in Arizona. He once called the Bill of Rights “totally outdated,” quipping “If you want to own a musket, fine.” But in a swing-ish Congressional district like Arizona’s 2nd (which includes Tucson, the site of his alma mater), Kerr might be a good fit.
As Lena Dunham proved a million times over, celebrities cannot save the Democrats. But Kerr’s interest in public policy seems to be sincere and growing. “Steve’s intellectual interests really blossomed in the last 10 years,” his mother Ann Kerr told the Times, which ends its article by stating “more and more, [Kerr] hears the echoes” of his father’s life in public service. He could do worse than emulate sportsmen-turned-statesmen like Tom McMillen (Buffalo Braves, Atlanta Hawks, Maryland’s 4th District) and Bill Bradley (10 years as a New York Knick, 18 as a U.S. Senator from New Jersey). Is the Arizona Democratic Party listening?