Why do NBA coaches seem to lean left and NFL coaches seem to lean right?

[DemocratSinceBirth]

“I didn’t vote for [George W.] Bush, but he was a good, honorable man with whom I had political differences, so I didn’t vote for him,” Van Gundy said. “But for our country to be where we are now, who took a guy who — I don’t care what anyone says, I’m sure they have other reasons and maybe good reasons for voting for Donald Trump — but I don’t think anybody can deny this guy is openly and brazenly racist and misogynistic and ethnic-centric, 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.”

-Stan Van Gundy- coach Detroit Pistons

“I don’t know what else to say. Just the whole process has left all of us feeling kind of disgusted and disappointed. I thought we were better than this. I thought The Jerry Springer Show was The Jerry Springer Show. Watching the last debate, Trump would make a crack at Clinton and you could hear the fans, the stands, ‘Ooooohhhh,’ like ‘Ohhh, no he didn’t,’ ‘Yooo, yeah he did.’ This is a presidential election. It’s not The Jerry Springer Show.”

-Steve Kerr- coach Golden State Warriors

“I’ve spoken on this before and I probably will again. Right now I’m just trying to formulate thoughts. It’s still early and I’m still sick to my stomach. Not basically because the Republicans won or anything, but the disgusting tenor and tone and all the comments that have been xenophobic, homophobic, racist, misogynistic, and I live in that country where half the country ignored all that to elect someone. That’s the scariest part of the whole thing to me.

-Gregg Popovich- coach San Antonio Spurs

"Trump’s going to make changes and upset the status quo. Things haven’t been right in a long time. I love the challenge. To reach greatness you have to reach high. That’s my opinion. I hope he makes it for the next four years. I think he’s going to do a hell of a fantastic job.

“Damn the torpedoes, dammit.”

Mike Ditka- former coach of the Chicago Bears and New Orleans Saints

“Congratulations on a tremendous campaign. You have to help with an unbelievable slanted and negative media and have come out beautifully. You have proven to be the ultimate competitor fighter. Your leadership is amazing. I have always had tremendous respect for you for the toughness and perseverance you have displayed over the past year is remarkable. Hopefully tomorrow’s election, the results will give the opportunity to make America great again.

Best wishes for great results tomorrow. "


Bill Belichick

Bill Belichick-former coach of the Cleveland Browns and New England Patriots

[Trust Buster]

1. The level of violence inflicted. A classic cavemen vs. gatherers comparison.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

2. Basketball can be physical and Van Gundy, Kerr, and Coach Pop are fierce competitors.

[Trust Buster]

12. I've played both. Football coaches seem to lack empathy. They target their opponents in order to

injure. They pump up their own injured players on pain killers and send them back out on the field. They use physical pain in practice as a punishment. This goes beyond being competitive IMO.

[NCTraveler]

13. Van Gundy being dragged by Alonzo. One of the funniest things I've seen. Nt

[DemocratSinceBirth]

14. That was the other brother

[NCTraveler]

15. Thanks for the correction.

I remembered seeing it and that it was a Van Gundy.

[logosoco]

3. hmmm, maybe this is why I understand and can follow a game of basketball

but when I watch football I cringe most of the time and have NEVER been able to understand all the rules or even how the game is played.

[HopeAgain]

4. Football

is still dominated by the white elitist mentality on the owner/management/coaching level. The NFL also discourages free speech.

[Buckeyeblue]

5. The difference

The NBA coaches you cited are all really intelligent people, who have a history of being able to get a lot out of their players. Popovich can be tough to be sure but he is also culturally aware. I'm not sure if you can make this generalization across the board though.

And Mike Ditka is just a grumpy old white man.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

8. BTW Coach Pop hired the first NBA female assistant:

Becky Hammon (San Antonio Spurs) and Nancy Lieberman (Sacramento Kings) are the only female assistant coaches in the NBA. Hammon is in her second season on the staff of Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. Lieberman was hired this summer by Kings coach George Karl.

When the NBA Finals come around I likely won't have a team to root against. It will be either the Spurs (Coach Pop), the Warriors (Steve Kerr), or the the Cavaliers (King James).

[dembotoz]

6. perhaps basketball by stereotype is a more urban inner city game?

or could be just small sample size and the nba has dickheads too....they are just more quiet

[DemocratSinceBirth]

7. If a NBA coach praised Drumpf I suspect there would be mutiny from his players.

[LAS14]

9. The Celtics have always (over 50 years, anyway) had coaches that are intelligent....

and, apparently, humane. I'm not sure about their politics, but I'd be happy to take a bet. And I can't speak to the sample size mentioned above across the league, but I'd sure rather listen to an NBA coach be interviewed than a football coach.

Their politics sure does add a yuck factor to the time spent watching the Patriots.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

10. Red Auerbach was a lifelong liberal Democrat.

[Are_grits_groceries]

11. Steve Kerr's father was the President of American University in Beirut.

He was assassinated by two Arab radicals years ago. They Kerr family had lived in the ME and enjoyed their time there.
If anybody has a broad perspective on Muslims and dangers posed by radicals, it is Kerr

** Kerr played basketball at Arizona. Arizona State was a bitter rival. When Kerr took the court, some ASU fans shouted "PLO" and other hurtful reminders at him. This was one of the most despicable acts by fans that I had ever heard of.

[DinahMoeHum]

16. Look to the nature of their sports.

Football, or rather, American football (vs. soccer) has to be the most repressive, anti-democratic team sport there is, in regards to both participation and opportunity. Therefore, most authoritarian types gravitate there.

Whereas in basketball, everybody, no matter what their position, gets to dribble, pass, shoot the ball, and play defense. It is more open to innovation and improvisation. People who are more open minded about things tend to coach there.

Let's look at other sports re participation and opportunity:

In baseball (OK, American League designated hitter rules notwithstanding), every player, no matter what their position, gets to throw, catch, turn at the plate to hit, run bases, and play defense.

In every other team sport, all players, no matter what their position, get to handle the object in varying degrees and play both offense and defense.

In contrast, football has only about 1/3 of the positions handling the pigskin regularly in any capacity. You might as well have robots or 4-legged primates playing the offensive interior line or the whole defensive slate.

[LAS14]

17. Politics seems associated with style of the game.

Along the lines of what was said in #16, above, there was an article in the Harvard Business Review maybe 30 years ago which described different business styles in terms of sports. On one side is the very hierarchical, rule oriented football style. In the middle is the individualistic baseball style. On the other side is the highly interactive, fluid basketball style. It feels reasonable that an authoritarian sport would attract conservative people. Never mind the violence attracting racists, etc.