AP
Washington Hispanic:
With words and actions, several NBA teams showed consternation on Wednesday hours after a violent mob loyal to President Donald Trump could storm the United States Capitol and in response to a prosecutor’s decision of Wisconsin for failing to charge a police officer who shot a black man last year.
In Miami, the Heat and Boston Celtics released a joint statement saying they were playing « with a heavy heart ”in a game where most of the players and coaches knelt for the national anthem. In Milwaukee, the Bucks and Detroit Pistons took turns on their first possessions, intentionally, with the 10 players on the floor on their knees. In Phoenix, the Suns and Toronto Raptors were in a circle and joined arms for the American and Canadian anthems. Many other tributes took place around the NBA.
Earlier in the day on Capitol Hill, a mob delayed Congress from certifying the results of the November election and paving the way for President-elect Joe Biden to be sworn in later this month.
“This is a shameful and shameful day in our country,” said New Orleans coach Stan Van Gundy.
Wednesday’s events came one day after the decision not to press charges against the officer who shot Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last year was announced. The Blake shooting was one of many topics players focused on last season in the NBA reboot bubble, where issues of racial injustice and police brutality were a constant focus.
The Heat-Celtics joint statement said, in part: “2021 It’s a new year, but some things haven’t changed. We play tonight’s game with a heavy heart after yesterday’s decision in Kenosha, and knowing that protesters in our nation’s capital are treated differently by political leaders depending on which side of certain issues they are on.
The Celtics discussed Blake’s decision earlier in the day, before the Capitol events unfolded. The Celtics met again as a team after hitting the arena in Miami, discussed options, and coach Brad Stevens even called his wife to say he didn’t think his team would take the floor.
Boston finally chose to play, beating Miami 107 – 105.
“They have operated with a win-at-all costs attitude,” Stevens said of the Trump administration. «I don’t know, our sports world is much less important, obviously. But I’ve always thought that if you operated with a win-at-all-costs attitude, it’s going to be a pretty unsatisfactory ending. And in this situation, a shameful ending. So I’m looking forward to two weeks from now, as I know so many other people are. ”
Biden will open two weeks from Wednesday 20 January.
It was unclear if any of the teams that knelt would be subject to penalties. The NBA had a rule for decades that players and coaches must uphold the national anthem. That rule was relaxed last year when the season resumed in the bubble inside Walt Disney World.
The Bucks won the first touch of their game, and instead of running a Played twice reigning NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo just held the ball as all the players knelt. That resulted in a rotation, as did Detroit’s ensuing possession when Blake Griffin held the ball and the players knelt again. The Bucks said they held the ball for 7 seconds after the game to reflect the seven times Blake was shot.
“We want to do things to help make the switch, be in the right side of the fight, keep fighting, not be in any way, line up or line up distracted or slowed down or moved in the wrong direction, “said Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer. “We have to keep moving forward in every way, shape and form.”
Meanwhile, a men’s college basketball game scheduled to be played in Washington on Wednesday night was postponed afterward. that a curfew was imposed on the city in response to the actions of the mafia on Capitol Hill. The Atlantic 10 Conference game between George Washington and UMass will be rescheduled by the league.
Other based team in Washington, Georgetown, he knelt for the anthem before facing Butler in Indianapolis. “I’m saddened,” Hoyas coach Patrick Ewing said in response to the day’s events.
There was 11 games on Wednesday’s NBA schedule. They were all played.
“It feels a little weird to play a game tonight, to be honest,” Charlotte coach James Borrego said before his club played in Atlanta.
Philadelphia coach Doc Rivers, who is black, spoke of the stark difference between rallies across America last summer that often included violent skirmishes between protesters and police and what he saw in the Capitol on Wednesday.
«The symbolism of storming the Capitol without force that is done to them, if you are a Black American, it definitely touches you in a different way», Rivers said. This is not a black thing. This is an American thing. “