Utah Jazz and New Orleans Pelicans players and coaches and referees of the game reopening the NBA season on Thursday, July 30, dropped to one knee during the American anthem, in protest against racial injustices.
As they had made the commitment, basketball players playing in the North American league have decided to take advantage of their return to the floors, inside the Disney World bubble (Florida), to show their support for the Black movement. Lives Matter in the wake of the death of George Floyd, suffocated during his arrest on May 25 in Minneapolis.
Consultations to act in unison
In recent days, the players of the 22 teams qualified for this eagerly awaited resumption of the championship, interrupted for more than four months because of the coronavirus, have come together to act in unison. In the evening, the Los Angeles derby between the Lakers of LeBron James and the Clippers of Kawhi Leonard should be preceded by the same strong gestures.
On the floor of the HP Field House, one of the three halls of the huge ESPN World Wide of Sports complex where the matches will take place behind closed doors until mid-October, the main actors of this Jazz-Pelicans have all gathered on along the sideline. They wore the same black sweatshirt with “Black Lives Matter” written on it, words also painted on the floor above the NBA logo.
“Peace”, “I am a man”, “equality”
After kneeling, the players started the game and each replaced, as the league has allowed, their name with a message on their jersey. Young New Orleans star Zion Richardson chose the word “Peace”, Utah full-back Mike Conley chose “I’m a Man” and Frenchman Rudy Gobert, who scored the very first basket of the match, for “Equality”.
Over the past two months, the United States has seen numerous protests against racial injustice and police brutality following Floyd’s death. Since then, kneeling on the ground has become a symbol of protest adopted by demonstrators, including many professional sportsmen.
This gesture was made for the first time by former American football player Colin Kaepernick in 2016, who collected insults from Donald Trump and was blacklisted in the NFL.
