Gregg Popovich and Steve Kerr are tired of ranting after every mass killing in the United States, but nothing changes, and on Wednesday evening, a man killed 22 people in Maine. NBA players and coaches discovered the news when they left the court, including Mike Brown.
Upon his arrival at the press conference, the best coach of the year warned that he did not have the heart to talk about the victory of his Kings over the Jazz. He took off his glasses, then ran his hand over his face. Both moved and disappointed.
“The first thing I would like to say, and I don’t know everything that happened, because I don’t have this gift, but I know that our country has to do something,” did he declare. “I was hanging out here and someone told me there was a shooting in Maine that left 22 people dead at a supermarket. A damn supermarket… If this doesn’t affect anyone, I don’t know what to say anymore. It’s absolutely sickening and it’s sad. And it’s sad that we sit here and watch this happen over and over and over and no one does anything about it. »
“It’s over for our country if this happens again and again”
Like his mentors at the Spurs and Warriors, Mike Brown feels helpless. He knows that the voice of a coach carries less than that of a politician, or even a great sportsman.
“It’s a sad day. It’s a sad day for our country.” he continues. “It’s a sad day in this world, and until we, the powers that be, decide to do something about it, this is going to continue to happen. Our children will not be able to enjoy what America is like because we don’t know how to solve a problem that is right in front of us. It’s sad. I sympathize with the families. We need to support Adam Silver and the players who run this league, Chris Paul and LeBron James to name a few, who are campaigning and using their platform properly, and we hope they continue. But obviously it doesn’t do much good, because it happened again tonight, and it’s just sickening.”
Pessimistic for the future of his country, Mike Brown “doesn’t even want to talk about basketball”. “We played a match, and it was nice. We won, but if we can’t do anything to correct this problem, it’s over. It’s over for our country if this happens again and again…” he concludes.
