Before facing off in Game 2 of the NBA Finals on Sunday, the Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors teamed up to spread a message against gun violence.
Per NBC Sports’ Kerith Burke, the Celtics and Warriors are both wearing orange “End Gun Violence” shirts during pre-game warmups. The back of the shirts display the Twitter accounts of gun-safety organizations such as Everytown and March for Our Lives.
Two weeks ago, Warriors coach Steve Kerr made a passionate plea for common-sense gun reform after 14 children were killed during a mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
“When are we going to do something?” Kerr asked in anger. “I’m tired. I am so tired of getting up here and offering condolences to the devastated families that are out there. I am so tired of the, excuse, I am sorry, I am tired of the moments of silence. Enough!”
Kerr reiterated Sunday that it’s time to “take notice and to take part” in pushing to pass “proven laws that are waiting to be passed” such as universal background checks.
“The idea behind wearing the shirts is to make people aware that they can contribute to different gun safety, gun-violence prevention groups,” Kerr said before encouraging everyone to vote.
This weekend alone, at least 11 people were killed and 54 more injured in seven mass shootings across the United States. A recent study showed that the United States accounted for 73 percent of mass shootings in the world’s developed nations from 1998 to 2019.
As Kerr alluded to after the Uvalde shooting, most Americans are in favor of policies such as universal background checks and red-flag laws that could help prevent more senseless tragedies.
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