After President-elect Donald Trump emerged with a surprising victory yesterday morning, Pistons coach and President of Basketball Operations Stan Van Gundy yesterday "unleashed an emotion-filled tirade" against the election and Trump himself, according to Rod Beard of the DETROIT NEWS. Van Gundy: "It’s embarrassing. I have been ashamed of a lot of things that have happened in this country, but I can’t say I’ve ever been ashamed of our country until today. We all have to find our way to move forward, but that was -- and I’m not even trying to make a political statement -- to me, that’s beyond politics." Van Gundy added, "I don’t think anybody can deny this guy is openly and brazenly racist and misogynist and ethnocentric, and say, ‘That’s OK with us; we’re going to vote for him anyway.' We have just thrown a good part of our population under the bus, and I have problems with thinking that this is where we are as a country.” Beard notes Van Gundy is "worried about" what the results of the election say about "women in general." Van Gundy: "Our society has said, ‘No, we think you should be second-class citizens. We want you to be second-class citizens.' And we embrace a guy who is openly misogynist as our leader. I don’t know how we get past that" (DETROIT NEWS, 11/10). Van Gundy: "I don’t know how you go about it, if you’re a person of color today or a Latino. Because white society just said to you, again -- not like we haven’t forever -- but again, and emphatically, that I don’t think you deserve equality. We don’t think you deserve respect. And the same with women" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 11/10).
MORE COACHES REACT: Warriors coach Steve Kerr said the "biggest disappointment" for him in the election outcome was there "should be some level of decorum, respect and dignity when it comes to the election of the president." Kerr: "It just went out the window. ... Then all of a sudden you’re faced with the reality that the man who’s going to lead you has routinely used racist, misogynist, insulting words. That’s a tough one. That’s a tough one. I wish him well." Kerr went on to say the election process has he and his team "feeling kind of disgusted and disappointed." Kerr: "I thought we were better than this" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 11/10). Kerr also said he "thought it took a lot of guts for Stan to say what he did." Kerr: “A lot of us feel similarly" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 11/10). In Boston, Adam Himmelsbach notes Celtics Coach Brad Stevens offered a response to the election that was "at once subdued and loud." He said, "The advice that I’ve always been given is don’t talk about politics and religion. And those are hard not to talk about right now. It wasn’t my vote. Let’s put it that way. ... We talked about that this morning, and that’s a hard thing. Everybody is ... because it’s such a passionate topic right now, every team’s going to be feeling that" (BOSTON GLOBE, 11/10).
A CALMING VOICE: USA TODAY's Sam Amick notes Clippers coach and President of Basketball Operations Doc Rivers yesterday "tried to bring a sense of calm" to the situation before their game against the Trail Blazers, "imploring critics of the new President Elect to have faith in the American system." Rivers: "Donald Trump is going to be fine, all right, as President. That’s something I never thought I’d have to say, honestly. But at the end of the day he will be because I just believe America overall works. ... But if you don’t like it, you have two years from now to change it. Not [to change the] President, but you can change the Congress and you can change the Senate. So if you don’t like it, change it" (USA TODAY, 11/10).
TAKING THE PULSE OF THE LOCKER ROOM: ESPN’s Michael Wilbon noted the NBA is "made up overwhelmingly … of brown and black people who I’m sure felt the same sort of despair on that bus ride that a lot of us felt in our homes when we woke this morning." Wilbon: "Kudos to Van Gundy for not being afraid for giving voice to this, even though there will be backlash directed at him.” ESPN's Tony Kornheiser: "I'm not going to say that he doesn’t believe every word, because I think he does. But he also needs to coach his team. He takes the temperature of his team, he feels this. If coaches can't relate to their teams on every level, that's a troublesome circumstance” (“PTI,” ESPN, 11/9). ESPN's Booger McFarland said, “Those are real life issues. When you walk in (the locker room) and your star players are down … coaches understand the pulse, they know what's going on. So you got to address it because you don't want that to linger throughout the week.” He added, "Coaches have to address it and they have to get a pulse of their team, of their business, of their organization. If you're not, you're doing that team or business a disservice” (“Mike & Mike,” ESPN Radio, 11/10).
