Golden State Warriors Coach Steve Kerr Speaks Out Against Travel Ban

President Donald Trump’s travel ban on seven Muslim majority countries– and opposition to it–has certainly dominated the news since it was announced. The sports world is also affected. Texas Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish is a Japanese citizen, but his father holds dual Iranian—Japanese citizenship, which could mean he would be banned from traveling to the U.S. Milwaukee Bucks player Thon Maker is an Australian citizen but a native of Sudan; Luol Deng of the Los Angeles Lakers is also a native of Sudan, though he is a citizen of England. There has been concern that these players would not be let back into the U.S. if they were returning from a game against the Toronto Raptors. Maker, in fact, did play in Toronto on the day the order was issued, but was allowed back in the U.S. The Law of Unintended Consequences will be in full effect as the situation develops.

Then there is Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr. He fully understands the effects of Islamic terrorists better than 99% of us. Kerr’s father Malcom was president of the American University of Beirut in 1984 when he was killed by jihadists, who have never been caught. If anyone would be justified in taking a hard line it would be Kerr. But instead, Kerr said it was a bad idea:

On a related note, Marie Tillman, the widow of former Arizona Cardinals player player Pat Tillman wrote on Facebook that this was “not the country he dreamed of, not what he served for and not what he died for.” Tillman quit football in 2002 to join the army. An Army Ranger, Tillman was killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan on April 22nd, 2004.