Sports Illustrated cover:
Stephen Curry criticizes omission of Colin Kaepernick.
After Sports Illustrated released its latest cover Tuesday, showing 10 prominent sports figures linking arms, many on social media were quick to ask: Where is Colin Kaepernick?
Count Stephen Curry among those who were puzzled that SI didn’t include the former 49ers quarterback whose decision to kneel for the national anthem last season started a movement.
“That was terrible,” Curry said after the Warriors’ practice Wednesday. “It’s just kind of capitalizing on the hoopla and the media and all that nonsense. The real people that understand exactly what’s been going on, and who’s really been active and vocal and truly making a difference, if you don’t have Kaepernick front and center on that, something’s wrong.”
Above Curry, Golden State head coach Steve Kerr and A’s catcher Bruce Maxwell, among others, on the cover were the words, “A nation divided, sports united.” SI executive editor Stephen Cannella appeared on Sports Illustrated Now to explain the magazine’s design choice.
“What we wanted to capture with this cover (was), yes, the news of the weekend,” Cannella said. “But we thought the enduring message of what we saw, especially on Sunday in the NFL, was this sense of unity.”
In Curry’s mind, SI lost sight of the big picture.
“It’s kind of hard to see how certain narratives take place, being prisoners of the moment,” Curry said. “… At the end of the day, that stuff really doesn’t matter. It’s about the true message and really highlighting the people that are doing the right thing.” FBI investigation: The news Tuesday that 10 people, including four college basketball assistant coaches, had been arrested as part of a threeyear FBI investigation into bribes and other corruption in the sport reminded Kerr why he doesn’t coach at that level.
“There’s a reason I coach in the NBA,” Kerr said. “I never wanted to be a college coach. I don’t immerse myself in that stuff. The NBA’s just really easy. We don’t need to make any apologies. You just play basketball and that’s the business. The NCAA obviously has to figure out on many levels who they are and what they’re doing.”