Local Opinion: 'When are we going to do something?' An open letter to Steve Kerr

Dear Steve, I’ve actually been writing this letter for several months now. My plan was to soften you up by letting you know how I have been following you, rooting for you, reveling in your successes at every level, and how for some strange reason I have felt this kinship and affinity for you.

Without even knowing who you were, I saw you go down with your knee injury in the World Games in 1985. In 1987/88 I was part of Roger Sedlmayr’s “Steeeeve Keeerrrr” chants in McKale after every three-point make.

I watched on TV when you torched ASU for seven threes in the first half of a game in Tempe on the night ASU fans were unspeakably cruel to you regarding the assassination of your father. And I was listening on the radio when Michael Jordan passed you the rock and you made that game-winning shot against Utah.

And then, when it seemed like your career was done, I remember silently pleading with San Antonio coach Greg Popovich to put you into a playoff game against Dallas that seemed all but lost, because I knew you could still shoot. Then, unbelievably he did, and all you did was respond by making four threes in the blink of an eye. I even saw your half-court make during halftime at the All-Star Game in Chicago a few years back. So yeah, we have some history.

And now as you’re you’re in another playoff run coaching Golden State, I find I can no longer put this off. So let me cut to the chase. It is time for you to come home. To Arizona, where your voice, so compelling and clear and so very much needed, can make a real difference, both on the national stage and here at home.

In two years, Kyrsten Sinema will be up for re-election, and I cannot think of a better candidate to trounce her in a primary and then win in a landslide in November. Yes, you are still that popular here, but it is so much more than that.

“When are we going to do something?” you yelled and slammed your hand on the table. “I’m so tired of getting up here and offering condolences to the devastated families that are out there.”

You then called out the 50 senators who have refused to act on background checks for gun owners. “Are you going to put your own desire for power ahead of the lives of our children and our elderly and our churchgoers?”

Indeed.

What you said on Tuesday, to a basketball audience, is what needs to be said to a national audience. Granted, calling out those 50 senators for their collective and pre-meditated inaction on gun control — 52, if you count Sinema and Manchin (and based on their records why wouldn’t you?) — will certainly generate a few headlines. But what then? Another basketball game, playoff win, championship? Tonight, you made it clear how much (or how little) this all means in the grand scheme of things.

I know you understand how much BS there is in politics. Understanding that is what got Trump elected, so strong is the hunger for something, anything that appears to cut through the BS. Of course, with the former president it was all style and little substance. Fortunately, as anyone who has ever heard you can attest, this is not an issue for you.

As for Sinema, the excitement around her candidacy and then victory 2018 was palpable. While it may not have been reasonable to expect her to be an ultra-left progressive, I don’t think anyone who voted for her expected we’d get someone who’s been invited to caucus with the Republicans. Sen. John Thune, the No. 2 Republican in the party’s leadership has said he’s tried “multiple times” to get her to join the GOP caucus. True, she turned him down, but still…

And so now as the clock is winding down, I’m passing you the rock. As a point guard and a shooting guard, and with eight championship rings, I like to think you’ll know exactly what to do with it.

Best wishes,

Your pal,

Jim Lipson