Back in 1998, Steve Kerr’s 5-year-old son, Nick, came home upset. Reason? He was disappointed he hadn’t received an invitation to Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday celebration. It’s a precious memory the Golden State Warriors’ head coach keeps close to his heart to this day.

In the moments leading up to the Warriors’ Martin Luther King Jr. Day game against the Miami Heat, Kerr deliberately stepped away from X’s and O’s. The coach skipped the standard pre-game ramble about injuries and trades on Monday to issue a stark warning about the nation’s social health.

“Sports has a way of bringing us all together,” Kerr said. “I’m very proud that the NBA really celebrates MLK Day every year and tries to spread the message of nonviolence. It’s especially important today… there’s so much conflict, such a divide. A lot of it is just misinformation, people being pitted against each other by media companies, for-profit enterprises. It’s very sad. It’s a difficult thing to navigate… whether you’re a coach or a politician or a 10-year-old child in America.”

Kerr is not naming names or targeting anyone specifically. The NBA veteran, however, is never one to shy away from social commentary. He noted that Martin Luther King Jr. is one name in a long history of trying to curb political violence. The most jarring is his warning that it has grown worse since the ’60s and that “it’s really scary.”

This marks the Bay Area franchise’s 33rd time playing on the holiday since it was first observed in 1986, including their 13th appearance in the last 14 years. The NBA usually has a star-packed slate and community outreach on MLK Day. For Kerr, it’s always been deeply personal as a staunch social justice advocate.

This underscores the importance of revisiting Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy every January.

“It’s a timeless message, and we’re thankful for that, and for his life and his legacy,” Kerr concluded.

The Golden State Warriors have a special tribute for Martin Luther King Jr.

It’s not MLK day without Kerr striking a nerve.

In 2018, the Warriors coach painted a stark reality when he boldly said, “[Dr King] would be less than inspired by the leadership in our country.”

Kerr has had more striking messages on this day every year, and this time was no different.

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MLK Day is a marquee night for the NBA, and the Warriors have something special planned to honor the civil rights icon. The game will feature a variety of tributes. They join Realize the Dream, a multi-year national movement led by Martin Luther King III, Arndrea Waters King, and Yolanda Renee King, to build a community of service.

Three students from the Oakland Unified School District’s Oratory Festival will deliver specially crafted speeches from famous works and original reflections on Dr. King during halftime. Later, the organization will honor Dr. Clayborne Carson, a civil rights scholar who was personally selected by Coretta Scott King in 1985 to edit and publish Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s papers, as the game’s Impact Warrior.

The most eye-catching tribute will be the custom t-shirts both the Warriors and Heat players will wear during their warm-ups.

For Kerr’s team, celebrating nonviolence is no longer a formality on the regular-season calendar. They’re going the extra mile as a reminder of the timeless nature of Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘value to action’ mission.