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Images of George Floyd (seen here) and Breonna Taylor, both unarmed African American victims of … [+]
As members of the media in the arena and on Zoom’s call after Saturday’s practice from the Denver Nuggets waited for starting point guard Jamal Murray’s turn to speak, he quietly placed a pair of shoes on his chair, leaving them in silence for several minutes before. take a seat and answer questions.
“I just wanted it to resonate,” Murray responded when asked about the gesture. “How long did that last, two minutes? A person in that shoe had a neck knee for eight. “
“There is no need for me, a 23-year-old, to acknowledge that, and that should be on everyone’s mind,” Murray added. “If you don’t see it that way, then there is a problem with you.”
The person pictured in Murray’s right shoe was George Taylor, whose murder on May 25 by Minneapolis police sparked a massive resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement for racial justice and against police brutality. Inscribed on the left shoe was Breonna Taylor, who was shot to death on March 13 by police who entered her home with a court order not to strike.
“He was a father, son, and brother, and you know, it’s hard when you really let it sink into your mind and repeat it over and over in your head.”
It was the Nuggets’ first media availability after the Milwaukee Bucks boycott last Wednesday, which occurred in direct response to the police shooting of Jacob Blake, who remains in hospital and was paralyzed from the waist down after receiving seven shots. . on the back in front of his sons, as well as because of the growing feeling among many NBA players that not enough had been done to leverage his and the league’s platform to effect genuine change.
The Bucks boycott set off a cascade of events that began with the postponement of all NBA games that day, followed by hastily assembled league and player meetings, culminating in an agreement between the NBA and the National Players Association. Basketball Association (NBPA) jointly announced. on Friday.
“It’s been a wild two days overall, just trying to make things better,” reserve guard Monte Morris said after practice Saturday. Morris served as the Nuggets team representative at the meetings.
“The most important thing, you know, is that we are just trying to make the action happen immediately,” Morris said.
Voting emerged as a central theme in the NBA-NBPA agreement, and was cited in all three compromise points outlined in the statement. Morris placed great emphasis on the second principle of the agreement, which states that “in all cities where the league franchise owns and controls ownership of the arena, team governors will continue to work with local election officials to convert the facilities at a polling place for the 2020 general election. election to allow a secure in-person voting option for communities vulnerable to COVID. “
“Something important is trying to get our owners to help open the arenas for people to vote. Voting is a great thing, ”Morris explained. “Less than 20% of the NBA actually voted last year, so … that was a great event where we have to step up and take more responsibility to see change.”
After the Blake shooting last week, Murray posted a tweet that read, “WE DEMAND JUSTICE !!!”
When I asked Jamal Murray in the context of his tweet if the Nuggets players and management had had a chance to begin discussing ways to achieve the commitments outlined in the agreement, he echoed Morris’s sentiment regarding the inauguration.
“The first step is for all teams to register to vote,” Murray responded. “We want to be able to go and tell everyone in the world to vote, and that their vote makes a difference and we have to take responsibility.”
“As players, you know, I take it personally,” Murray continued. “If I’m not shooting, it’s hard for me to tell someone to do it. If I don’t play defense, it’s difficult for me to tell someone to play defense. “
“That’s the first step, holding ourselves accountable so that when we go and have these new plans to … make changes, we also stay at a high level.”
As for the reasons why change is needed, both Murray and Morris spoke passionately about the profound impact of racial injustice.
“The mental aspect is a really important factor,” said Murray, “how you think about it, how you perceive things, how you look at someone.”
“The color of my skin should not determine whether I live or die.”
Monte Morris explained how the emotional impact of racial injustice has affected him personally. “It’s been difficult for me, you know, just seeing what’s going on, police brutality, it’s a difficult subject,” Morris said. “Because it definitely won’t be the last shooting, and that’s the craziest thing, we know.”
“I’m from a difficult area, mostly black, things like that,” Morris explained. “So it’s hard for me to know that I have a family there: my mom, my nieces.”
“So seeing things like that happen, it could be any of us.”
But as if all of that wasn’t difficult and challenging enough, the Nuggets players and staff must now set their sights on the sixth game tonight of their first-round playoff series against the Utah Jazz.
“I put myself in the shoes of our players and it’s difficult, man, it’s such a delicate balance,” said head coach Michael Malone. “I want to do what is right for society, I want to do what is right for my people and I also have a game to play.”
Malone spoke of Denver’s first practice after the boycott as the “worst” in his five years, but said Saturday was better, adding, “I hope tomorrow at 8:30 in Orlando, our guys understand… this opportunity that we have it in front of us to continue to advance our series and stay here, and also use the platform while we are here to continue getting our message across.
Morris said Saturday’s practice “definitely helped” and “energized” the Nuggets players “on the basketball side, knowing it’s either win or go home.”
“I think we took a step forward and we were able to put our emotions behind,” Morris said, “and know that we are still here for basketball as well.”
