MMA Weekly
Colby Covington explodes NBA, MLB players for protest against Jacob Blake’s police shooting
Former interim UFC champion Colby Covington is never one to let go of a moment of controversy without injecting himself into the conversation. He did just that on Wednesday night when he criticized the NBA, MLB and other professional athletes for boycotting sports in protest against the recent shooting of Jacob Blake by police in Kenosha, Wis. The protests came on the heels of the shooting of Blake, a black man who was shot seven times in the back by an officer of the Kenosha police department who tried to arrest him. The incident that led to the shooting of Jacob Blake Amtners was named after the scene because of a domestic incident, according to the Wisconsin Department of Justice, which soon took over the investigation from the Kenosha PD after the incident. Officers at the scene tried to arrest Blake and used a Taser to stop him, according to Justice Department investigators. Blake then walked around his car and leaned into the driver’s side door, at which point an officer who had Blake’s shirt grabbed shot seven times in Blake’s back. The officers provided assistance until Blake could be transported to a hospital. Blake has undergone several surgeries and remains in critical condition, paralyzed from the waist down. How the NBA and Professional Sports Protests Developed The professional sports protests surrounding the shooting began Wednesday when the Milwaukee Bucks refused to take the floor for Game 5 of their NBA playoff game with the Orlando Magic. The Magic players then joined the Bucks in a show of solidarity, leading to the NBA postponement of the other two playoff games scheduled for Wednesday. The Bucks players tipped a domino of protest from other athletes in the United States. the court in T-shirts with seven red marks on the back, indicating the seven times that Officer Blake shot in the back. That led to WNBA officials canceling the three games scheduled for Wednesday. Major League Soccer canceled five games. The Western & Southern tennis tournament has postponed Thursday’s matches after tennis star Naomi Osaka withdrew from the tournament in protest. NBA analyst Kenny Smith, a former NBA player, walked off the set of TNT’s “Inside the NBA” during a live broadcast in solidarity with The protests were a turning point for players who had not only seen Blake shoot , but also the cumulative effect of the officer felt involved in shooting George Floyd, Breanna Taylor and other Black Americans. * * * Kenny Smith walks away from the set of “Inside the NBA” in Solidarity (Video with NBA Friendship on TNT) * * * Colby Covington’s rant focused on NBA players and Major League Baseball Covington made no immediate statement about the shootings themselves or the change that the players hope to encourage, but appeared to take precedence over the manner of the protests and the criticism of policemen. “Oh wow, you postponed your games ?!” Covington wrote. “Do you want to prove that you’re really about change? Take your multi-million dollar jobs and soft-spoken life games from a child’s game, take a massive pay cut, and perform the worst job in America. Become a police officer !!!! ” https: // twitter.com/ColbyCovMMA/status/1298801640338751489?s=20 He tagged NBA, Major League Baseball, and NBA superstar LeBron James, who is also a UFC fan. James had previously tweeted, “F — this man !!!! We demand change. Sick of it.” Https://twitter.com/KingJames/status/1298721240748711936 On Thursday, James added: “Change does not happen by just talking !! It happens with action and must NO! HAPPEN! For my I promise schoolchildren, children and communities all over the country, it is up to the US to make a difference.Together.Therefore, your voice is more than a vote. BlackLivesMatter “https://twitter.com/KingJames/status/1299022257029816320 Dana White and the UFC honor George Floyd after his death While Covington was critical of the approach taken by NBA players and other professional athletes to protest against ‘ the recent police shootings, the UFC has not removed itself from the calls to turn to injustice in America. At UFC Vegas May 1, 30, the first event of the promotion in Las Vegas, after the resurgence of sports in America in Florida, the fight promotion honored George Floyd. Floyd was a black man who died in a police arrest in Minneapolis when an officer pinched his neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds. The UFC opened its broadcast with a graphic showing George Floyd, with the years of his birth and death. https://twitter.com/ufc/status/1266901456818331650?s=20 After the incident, when asked about the decision to honor Floyd on the broadcast, UFC President Dana White declared, “Because we “What happened was terrible and it’s something that’s happening right now and the world is affecting this country. There’s everywhere now, all over the world. It was the right thing to do.” * * * Dana White addresses George Floyd’s tribute and the riots (Subscribe to MMAWeekly.com on YouTube)
