• LeBron James salutes Colin Kaepernick for inspiring =?ISO-8859-1?Q?NBA=

    From Ubiquitous@21:1/5 to All on Sun Aug 2 19:37:07 2020
    XPost: alt.tv.pol-incorrect, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.politics.usa
    XPost: alt.sports.basketball.nba

    KISSIMMEE, Fla. — After kneeling during the national anthem on the
    opening night of the NBA’s bubble restart, LeBron James dedicated the coordinated social justice demonstration to former NFL quarterback
    Colin Kaepernick.

    James, who led the Los Angeles Lakers past the Clippers, 103-101, at
    the Arena at Disney World on Thursday, said Kaepernick “taught me a
    lot” about the protest issue. Kaepernick, once a star quarterback with
    the San Francisco 49ers, has not played in the NFL since the season he
    began protesting police brutality by taking a knee during the national
    anthem in 2016.

    “I hope we made Kaep proud,” James said. “I hope we continue to make
    Kaep proud every single day. I hope I make him proud on how I live my
    life, not only out on the basketball floor but off the floor.”

    The Lakers and Clippers donned “Black Lives Matter” shirts and locked
    arms before their contest in a unified demonstration. Every player on
    both teams participated, as did the coaches and referees. A similar demonstration took place involving members of the Utah Jazz and New
    Orleans Pelicans earlier Thursday.

    The 35-year-old James, who has been outspoken on political issues
    dating back to Trayvon Martin and Eric Garner, called for the
    Louisville police officers who shot Breonna Taylor to be arrested last
    week. After recently praising Rep. John Lewis (whose funeral was held
    Thursday) for teaching him to “never be afraid of conflict, good
    conflict, positive conflict that can create change,” James said he
    appreciated Kaepernick’s willingness to take a polarizing stand and to
    clearly state his motives, even when critics suggested kneeling was disrespectful to the military or un-American.

    “Kaep was someone who stood up when times weren’t comfortable, when
    people didn’t understand, when people refused to listen to what he was
    saying,” James said. “If you go back and listen to his postgame
    interviews when he was talking about why he was kneeling, it had
    absolutely nothing to do with the flag. It had absolutely nothing to do
    about the soldiers, the men and women that keep our land free. He
    explained that, and the ears were closed. People never listened. They
    refused to listen. I did. A lot of my people in the Black community did listen.”


    NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Thursday that he would not enforce a “long-standing rule requiring standing during the playing of our
    national anthem” because of “these unique circumstances.”

    Before the bubble openers, NBA players had not knelt during the
    national anthem in the post-Kaepernick era. Back in 1996, Mahmoud
    Abdul-Rauf was suspended for one game for failing to stand during the
    anthem.

    “We thank [Kaepernick] for sacrificing everything he did to put us in a position today, even years later, to have that moment that we had
    tonight,” James said.

    Multiple players who participated in the demonstrations called them “emotional,” and National Basketball Players Association Executive
    Director Michele Roberts applauded the Nuggets and Pelicans. She later
    said in a statement that she was “very proud” of the “sober, powerfully
    moving” and “heartfelt” demonstration.

    Even so, the NBA community seemed to be bracing for the possibility of political blow back. President Trump, a longtime critic of players who
    kneel during the anthem, said earlier this month that “the game is over
    for me” when it happens because the action amounts to “a sign of great disrespect for our Country and our Flag.”


    Pelicans guard JJ Redick defended the collective kneeling from
    potential critics who might believe the players were politicizing the
    anthem.

    “The majority of Americans want social justice, real equality and to
    end police brutality,” Redick said. “The polls back that up. Politics
    and sports coexist now. The league has recognized that.”

    James, meanwhile, said he would offer no preemptive response to
    potential critics.

    “There’s always going to be people who don’t agree with what you’re
    doing,” he said. “No matter what you do in life, you’re always going to
    have people try to pick apart whatever you do. If you’re passionate and
    true and authentic to whatever your cause is, then it doesn’t matter. I couldn’t care less about the naysayers. I’ve been hearing it for too
    long.”

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