Kevin Durant, Steve Kerr remind us that pro athletes are people, too

Just in case you forgot, Steve Kerr and Kevin Durant of the Golden State Warriors remind fans that professional athletes are just everyday people, too.

As the reigning NBA champions, the Golden State Warriors are constantly under intense scrutiny, subject to criticism from fans, the media and sports television/radio personalities. Coming from a fan perspective, I think far too often do we forget that the professional athletes we look up to are — in essence — just tall people with athletic jobs.

Steve Kerr reminded me of that on Monday when he made an appearance at Newark Memorial High School to discuss gun violence in front of 500 high school students and a great number of elected officials.

If you haven’t had the chance to read it, please try to find the time because there’s a great deal of powerful quotes that I included, each of which I hope inspires you to take action against some of the injustices brought upon by our current federal government.

There’s one quote, however, that I ended up cutting from that piece, something that really resonated with me as a sports fan: Setting up his initial remarks, Kerr opened with a joke centered around his stature as the Warriors head coach, making light of overused sports-related denigrations such as “shut up and dribble.”

“I’m not here because I’m the Warriors’ coach — actually I am, because I wouldn’t have been invited if I wasn’t the Warriors’ coach,” Kerr said, drawing a laugh from the audience. “But I’m here because I’m a citizen of this country, and we’re a democracy.”

“When people say ‘stick to sports,’ ‘stick to coaching,’ whatever — that means nothing. We all have a voice.”

Kerr normally opens his speeches with a bit of humor, so it doesn’t surprise me that no one else in media has mentioned this subtle jab. In addition, the fact that Kerr hid this statement at the beginning of what ended up being a long, passionate call to action concerning a serious subject also helped overshadow this particular moment.

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But I feel this is an issue we don’t take seriously enough because we’re perfectly content passing judgment on people based on what we’re fed through our black mirrors.

There’s a simple reason why I do my best not to bombard people with interview questions, why I do my best to avoid digging for information that’s too personal or taking up too much time with lengthy, drawn out inquires:

These guys that we look up to — the people who dedicate their lives to providing entertainment for us — are just everyday people. They got other more important things to do, and at the end of the day, most of what sports media relays doesn’t matter all too much.

In the case of the Warriors, these guys might love playing basketball for a living, but many of them do that in hopes of consistently providing for their families long term. They worry about other things in life just as regular fans do, such as gun violence, mental health and even retirement.

Professional athletes aren’t just there to entertain the masses, and it’s folly to expect the people we place on pedestals to be above making decisions that you and I make on the daily. Just like us, they make mistakes, form opinions and pass judgment.

I’m not saying that fans shouldn’t be allowed to openly voice their thoughts; I’m saying it’s hypocritical for fans to publicly judge those in the entertainment industry and still expect those celebrities to “stay in their lane.”

Kevin Durant also reminded us on Monday that basketball is like any other career, and you have to make career decisions that are based on what’s best for you, personally.

Durant left OKC to pursue what he considered to be a better career opportunity in Golden State, and in the process, he finally added a Finals MVP and an NBA title to his already stacked resumé.

It’s just plain stupid to think that any one of us wouldn’t dare consider making a career decision that would ultimately win us a championship. Twitter talks so much about not wasting time on relationships that don’t benefit us, but suddenly KD is a snake for ending a relationship that wasn’t going anywhere?

Yeah, ok.

Next: Steve Kerr discusses gun violence with high school students

We forget that it’s so much more than just basketball, and we should appreciate the individuals who use their elevated platform to speak on more than just sports — regardless of whether we agree.