S Teve Kerr has had a long career in professional basketball, appearing in thousands of games over 14 years as a player and 12 years as a coach. But he has never experienced a game like last weekend in Minneapolis.
His Golden State Warriors’ opponent, the Minnesota Timberwolves, played under the impression of all this, what is happening in their cityparalyzed. The Warriors couldn’t really enjoy their victory. The audience was unusually quiet, there was a heaviness in the arena, broken only by a few isolated shouts of “Fuck ICE”. “People came here to distract themselves,” said Kerr, “and that probably didn’t really work.”
Kerr himself, who has never held back politically, did not mince his words this time either. He bluntly called Renée Good’s death murder. Immigration, he said, is indeed a problem in the United States, but it should not be solved with violence on the streets. He called it heartbreaking that Alex Pretti and Renée Good won’t be able to come home to their families when this is all over.
Kerr wasn’t the only professional sports figure to speak out about the violence in Minnesota. His colleague Chris Finch, coach of the Timberwolves, expressed his condolences to Pretti’s relatives before the game and described the situation in Minneapolis as outrageous. His team stands in solidarity with the people of the city, a stance that the players underlined during warm-ups with T-shirts that read “We Stand with Minnesota.”
America, wake up!
The one of French origin Superstar Victor Wembanyama Meanwhile, before his game against Orlando, the San Antonio Spurs said what he was seeing in the news was “completely unacceptable.” It also inspired him to think deeply about his own life. He adds that he can’t say what he really thinks, the personal costs are too great.
Other athletes were less afraid of the consequences. The assistant coach of the WNBA team Minnesota Lynx said after the death of Alex Pretti: “What’s your excuse now, America? That wasn’t a crazy left-wing lesbian, just a man who carried a gun and who protected women. What are we doing here?? America has to wake up! We can’t allow evil to win.”
The Minneapolis basketball teams put their money where their mouth was. A joint foundation between the Timberwolves and the Lynx donated $200,000 to local organizations that supported immigrants. Paige Bueckers, who plays in Dallas but grew up in Minneapolis, added another 50,000 from her own pocket.
Sports columnist Dave Zirin, who specializes in the connection between sports and politics, called all of these things hopeful. 2025 was the worst year for sports activism. After the Black Lives Matter era the US professionals fell silent again. “Sports looked like another industry subservient to an authoritarian regime.” Now that the Trump administration is showing its ugliest face, he seems to be waking up.
Football alone, which is celebrating its biggest party with the Superbowl next weekend, is still quiet. Rep. George Cook from New Jersey gave the reason in an Instagram post: “Colin Kaepernick, Colin Kaepernick, Colin Kaepernick.” Kaepernick, who invented the player protests on the field, never found a job in football again.
To keep football quiet, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has already announced a strong ICE presence at the Super Bowl. When asked what the immigration police were doing there, she simply replied. “If you’re a good, proud American, you have nothing to fear.” On the NFL’s decision Bringing Trump-critical pop star Bad Bunny on stage at halftimeshe just said, “They’re shit. And we’re going to win.”