Steve Kerr and the NBA Play-In Tournament had a checkered history until Tuesday night.
The Warriors entered their matchup with the Grizzlies winless in three play-in games under Kerr, including a blowout loss to the Kings that ended their last season last year. While the Grizzlies made it stressful in the fourth quarter, Golden State survived and locked up the No. 7 seed in the West, avoiding a matchup with the mighty Thunder.
It was Kerr's shirt after the game, however, that caught the attention of fans as the playoffs loom.
Here's what you need to know about Kerr's Harvard shirt and his political motivation for wearing it.
📲 Follow The Sporting News on WhatsApp
Steve Kerr Harvard basketball shirt, explained
Kerr wore a Harvard shirt after the Warriors' win in support of the school's battle against the Trump administration.
The moment came a day after Harvard resisted the administration's demands for sweeping leadership and admissions changes at the 389-year-old university, despite threats to pull federal funding from the school.
"I believe in academic freedom and think it's crucial for all of our institutions to be able to handle their own business the way they want to," Kerr told reporters, calling the administration's stance "the dumbest thing I've ever heard."
“It’s crucial for all of our institutions to be able to handle their own business the way they want to, and they should not be shaken down and told what to teach — what to say — by our government. Way to go, way to stand up to the bully.”
— Steven Rissotto (@StevenRissotto) April 16, 2025
Kerr rocking a Harvard shirt postgame pic.twitter.com/DnrUBdTWGN
Kerr didn't just buy the shirt for the purpose of wearing it Tuesday night, though. It was originally a gift of Harvard basketball coach Tommy Amaker, who has spent the last 18 years at the helm of the Crimson.
Kerr has spoken out for nearly a decade against president Donald Trump, who launched his first presidential campaign on the very day the Warriors won their first of four NBA titles under the coach in 2015. In August, Kerr endorsed Kamala Harris in a speech at the Democratic National Convention.
After Trump won the election in November, Kerr took the high road, telling reporters, "I believe in democracy. I think the American people have spoken and voted for Trump. I want him to do well the next four years. I want our country to do well."
With Trump having been in office for nearly three months, though, Kerr unsurprisingly doesn't like what he sees — and his Harvard shirt is one way of expressing his opposition.
MORE: NBA Play-In Tournament live scores
Where did Steve Kerr go to college?
Kerr spent his college days thousands of miles from Harvard at the University of Arizona.
A standout for the Wildcats before emerging as one of the NBA's top shooters with the Bulls, Kerr played for coach Lute Olson from 1983-88, starting 70 games over the final two seasons and reaching the Final Four in 1988.
Kerr played alongside All-American and eventual No. 3 overall NBA Draft pick Sean Elliot at Arizona, and he took full advantage of college basketball's addition of the 3-point line by making 114 3s — the third-highest total in the nation — as a senior.
Donald Trump-Harvard controversy, explained
The Trump administration requested that Harvard make sweeping changes to leadership and admissions policies, using federal funding as leverage. Unlike other Ivy League institutions, the university resisted those changes.
"The administration’s prescription goes beyond the power of the federal government. It violates Harvard’s First Amendment rights and exceeds the statutory limits of the government’s authority under Title VI," Harvard president Alan Garber said in a statement Monday.
The Trump administration asked Harvard to discontinue diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, report to the government any non-citizen student found to have committed a conduct violation, adopt more merit-based admissions policies and hire an individual to evaluate whether there is enough "viewpoint diversity" in the school's leadership.
After Harvard refused, the administration $2.2 billion in federal grants to the university and threatened the school's tax-exempt status, signaling the battle between the two sides could just be getting started.