Warriors' Steve Kerr delivers impassioned plea for gun control after Texas school shooting

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Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr didn't want to talk about basketball in his news conference before Game 4 of the Western Conference finals against the Dallas Mavericks.

He said that basketball did not matter.

Fourteen children were killed 400 miles from here after we left shootaround. Kerr was referring to the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, earlier Tuesday.

According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, the death toll has risen to at least 18 children and two adults since Kerr spoke. The suspect in the Uvalde High School shooting is dead, Gov. Greg Abbott said.

Pete Arredondo, the police chief of the school district, said there were several injuries.

Kerr slammed his fists on the table. I am tired of offering my sympathies to the families that are out there. I am sorry, but I am tired of the moments of silence. Enough!

Kerr has spoken out against gun violence before. His father was killed in a terrorist attack in Lebanon in 1984 and he has been calling for gun law reform for a long time.

H.R.8 is a bill that would tighten background check rules for firearm purchases. The bill passed in the House of Representatives but never made it to the Senate floor.

There is a reason why they won't vote on it. Kerr said to hold on to power.

As he looked into the camera, he asked Senate Minority Leader McConnell to do something about the violence and school shootings. Are you going to put your own desire for power ahead of the lives of our children, elderly, and churchgoers? That is what it looks like. It is what we do every week.

The Warriors have an opportunity to close out their series against the Mavericks and advance to the NBA Finals on Tuesday, and Kerr knows that.

He urged anyone watching to keep an eye on the victims. Kidd shared the same sentiment.

Kidd said that they would play with heavy hearts for the Robb Elementary School. We are going to try to play the game while on-the-run job training. We have no choice.

The game will not be canceled. We have to find a way to be pro and win. The news of what is happening throughout our country is sad.

According to Arredondo, Robb Elementary School has an enrollement of 600 students and serves students in the second, third and fourth grades. The last week of classes was before the summer break.

There are no right words. Our hearts are with you and all of our neighbors who were impacted by the shooting.

It was the worst grade school shooting in the US since the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in Connecticut. 10 days ago, a man in body armor killed 10 Black shoppers and workers at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, in what authorities say was a racist attack. Two days after the Buffalo mass shooting, one person was killed and five others were wounded in a shooting at a Taiwanese church in California that was described by the Orange County sheriff as a politically motivated hate incident.

I'm fed up. Kerr said that they couldn't get numb to this. We have to have a moment of silence and not just sit here and wait for it.

Kerr slammed the table one more time.

It is pathetic. I have had enough.

Information from The Associated Press was included in the report.