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Previously, we wrote that Kyle Corver, Sterling Brown, Jonathan Isaac, Anthony Tolliver, Marco Belinelli and Michele Roberts, director of the NBA Players Association, visited the Pope on Monday afternoon.
The delegation was invited to speak with the Pope about the work of NBA players in the fight for social equality.
The pope said he wanted to hear how the players sought to draw the public’s attention to the issues of social and economic inequality, as well as hear about plans for the future.
“At first I thought it was a letter from a scammer,” Corver said at the invitation of a New York Times reporter to go to the Vatican. – I called Michele and asked if it was all true. He assured me yes and asked if I could leave in two days. Everything happened very quickly. “
Photo by Scanpix / Pope Francis meeting with NBA basketball players
According to the New York Times, the meeting between the Pope and the NBA basketball players lasted about 30 minutes. All the players turned to Francis in turn.
“The Pope said that sport has a wonderful opportunity to unite. He compared it to a team where everyone has a common goal and works together, but they do it with different personalities, ”said K. Korver, 39.
According to one of the best players in the NBA, the Pope also pointed to the sport as an example of discipline, behavior and leadership.
“Sport offers a unique opportunity. He encouraged us to take advantage of it, ”said a Milwaukee Bucks sniper.
„Scanpix“ nuotr./Kyle’as Korveris
For NBA players, this meeting with the Pope was an opportunity to remind them once again of the racial problems in America, and in particular the Black Lives Matter movement that followed George Floyd’s assassination in late May.
Two of the basketball players who attended the game, S. Brown and K. Korver, represent the Bucks team, which refused to go to the field in August in protest of an incident in which another black Jacob Blake was injured by police. .
As early as June, Pope Francis said he was viewing the unrest across the Atlantic with “great concern” and said that “one cannot tolerate, avert or close one’s eyes against racism.”
All NBA players invited to the Vatican revealed that they immediately accepted the invitation. Brown left for Rome a few hours after signing a contract with the Houston Rockets, and Isaac suspended his rehab after a cruciate ligament injury from the trip.
“This call is a sign that the work we are doing is significant,” Roberts said. – That sign was given to us by a man who dedicated his entire life to others. He encouraged us to continue what we have been doing so far. “
He encouraged us to continue what we have been doing so far.
Anthony Tolliver, a friend of Jonas Valančiūnas’ team at the Memphis Grizzlies club, described the Pope as “super relaxed” after the meeting and said he is honored to be a part of this journey.
“He was more relaxed than he could have imagined,” the 35-year-old forward said of the pope. He said the Pope had told them how he had seen the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team in his youth.
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