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- Steve Kerr gave his thoughts on the recent Donald Trump-LaVar Ball feud, saying that it would be nice if the media stopped covering both of them.
- Trump and Ball have gone back and forth over the level of Trump's involvement in getting Ball's son, LiAngelo Ball, home from China after an arrest.
- It isn't the first time Kerr has taken aim at Trump.
The Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr is known as one of the most outspoken figures in the NBA, and he recently furthered that reputation by criticizing a pair of controversial figures: President Donald Trump and LaVar Ball.
Trump and Ball engaged in a public feud over the weekend, sparring with insults made over Twitter and to the media. Kerr became sick of the drama, and when a reporter asked for his thoughts on the matter, he didn't hold back.
"Modern life," Kerr said. "Two people seeking attention, and they're both getting it. I'm sure both guys are really happy. You know what would help, if all of you [media members] just stopped covering both of them. Is that possible? You could probably stop covering LaVar. I don't think you can stop covering the president. It'd be nice for all of us if both of them would just be quiet. Wouldn't that be great?"
The comments drew laughs from the assembled crowd. Trump remains deeply unpopular with a large chunk of the population, with 47% of respondents in one recent survey saying they "strongly disapprove" of his performance. Ball, too, has been divisive, with nearly half of CBS' Candid Coaches saying they would not recruit his youngest son, LaMelo Ball, due to the potential distraction.
Trump and Ball didn't have much to say about one another for most of this year, but that changed when Ball's son, the UCLA freshman LiAngelo Ball, was arrested for shoplifting from a mall in China along with two of his teammates. Trump reportedly made a personal plea to Chinese president Xi Jinping for the government to get involved with the case, and days later, the players were on a flight back home.
Trump took to Twitter to wonder if the players would thank him (they did), which seemed to annoy LaVar. According to ESPN's Arash Markazi, the Big Baller Brand CEO tried to downplay the president's involvement with the situation, wondering why he was even in China in the first place. That didn't sit well with Trump, who sent a disapproving tweet with an angry closing line: "I should have left them in jail!"
This isn't the first time Kerr has taken aim at Trump. In a Sports Illustrated story from September, he referred to Trump's constant feuds as "childish stuff" and said his negative comments about protesting NFL players "crushed me." He has also stated that Gregg Popovich, a fellow NBA head coach and outspoken anti-Trumper, would make a good president.
LaVar Ball has yet to respond to Trump's latest tweet.