Uvalde Shooting: 'Heavy Hearts' For Mavs vs. Warriors, Say Jason Kidd & Steve Kerr
As the Dallas Mavericks prepare to take on the Golden State Warriors in Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals at American Airlines Center, thoughts about basketball have taken a backs seat today with the somber news of yet another school shooting taking place.
On Tuesday, at least 15 people were killed in a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. It's been reported that 14 of the the 15 victims were students and the other was a teacher. The 18-year-old suspect was a local high school student and was killed by law enforcement.
Getty Images
Getty Images
Getty Images
"Before we start discussing basketball, tonight's game, I'd like to say that our hearts go out to the victims and family of the horrific events in Uvalde, Texas," said coach Jason Kidd. "We send our condolences to our fellow Texans and we'll keep them in our hearts. ... We truly will play with heavy hearts tonight for the community, for the school of Robb Elementary School. Tough."
On the opposing side, Warriors coach Steve Kerr was furious and took things a little further with his thoughts on what transpired on Tuesday.
"I'm not going to talk about basketball," said Kerr. "Nothing's happened with our team in the last six hours. We're going to start the same way tonight. Any basketball questions don't matter. Since we left shootaround, 14 children were killed 400 miles from here, and a teacher. In the last 10 days, we've had elderly black people killed in a supermarket in Buffalo, we've had Asian churchgoers killed in Southern California, now we have children murdered at school.
Getty Images
Getty Images
Getty Images
"When are we going to do something? I'm tired. I'm so tired of getting up here and offering condolences to the devastated families that are out there. I'm so tired. Excuse me. I'm sorry. I'm tired of the moments of silence. Enough."
Kerr even went as far as making a plea to U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell during his pregame press conference.
"I ask you, Mitch McConnell, all of you Senators who refuse to do anything about the violence, school shootings, supermarket shootings, I ask you: Are you going to put your own desire for power ahead of the lives of our children and our elderly and our churchgoers? Because that's what it looks like. That's what we do every week.
"So I'm fed up. I've had enough. We're going to play the game tonight. But I want every person here, every person listening to this, to think about your own child or grandchild, mother or father, sister, brother. How would you feel if this happened to you today?"
