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NBA basketballÌýcoach Steve Kerr delivered a heart-wrenching speech on Tuesday night for US senators to pass gun legislation, hours after aÌýÌýthat killed 19 children and two adults.

While his impassioned plea isÌýfast becomingÌýfamous, his surprising and tragic ties to the Middle East are less well known.

The formerÌýNBA player and current Golden State Warriors head coach was born in , andÌýhas been personally affected by gun violence. His father, Malcolm Kerr, wasÌýshot dead by militants in Lebanon.

Malcolm Kerr wasÌýa Beirut-born American professor who specialised in the Middle East andÌýbecameÌýpresident of the American University of Beirut during the of the 1980s.

Israel had invaded the country at the time he became president. During his termÌýas president, Kerr reportedly stood down an Israeli military vehicle that stormed onto campus.

As LebaneseÌýmilitants threatened to eliminate Americans who dared remain in the country, Kerr, one of theÌýhighest-profile Americans in the country, was vulnerable. Despite this, he refused to keep a bodyguard the university had assigned to him.

Kerr was shot twice in the head by the Islamic Jihad OrganisationÌýon 18 January 1984.

Steve Kerr, who was born in the Lebanese capital and spent much of his childhood inÌýthe Middle East,Ìýwas an 18-year-old freshman at the University of ArizonaÌýwhen hisÌýfatherÌýwas killed. He has said that playing basketball helped him cope with the tragedy; he went on to become an eight-time NBA champion, five times as a player, and thrice as a coach.

Steve Kerr has spoken out about school shootings before - but his exasperation at the political inertia around gun violence in the USÌýwas clear to see on Tuesday.

"When are we gonna do something!" he exclaimed.

"I ask all of you senators who refuseÌýto do anything about the violence and school shootings and supermarket shootings, I ask you - are you going to put your own desire for power ahead of the lives of our children, and our elderly, and our churchgoers?"

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