National Basketball Players Association executive director Michele Roberts expressed outrage over the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Wednesday and how the event reflected racial double standards in America.
Roberts told ESPN that her conversations with multiple NBA players throughout the afternoon kept returning to the contrast between the scene of President Donald Trump’s supporters storming the Capitol with the Tuesday announcement that police officers in Kenosha, Wisconsin, would not face any charges in the shooting of Jacob Blake, who is Black.
In the aftermath of the Blake shooting in August, the Milwaukee Bucks decided against playing a playoff game against the Orlando Magic in the league’s bubble at the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. More teams joined the Bucks and the league shut down in protest for three days before restarting again.
“Today started yesterday, when the Jacob Blake shooting was being justified, although I’m not sure there was a single human surprised at that finding,” Roberts told ESPN on Wednesday. “Every single player that contacted me — or that I contacted — saw the same connection to the Blake shooting being justified. We were watching these people essentially committing treason at the Capitol and I have yet to hear about a single shot being fired.
“We saw a Black police officer being chased and players said to me, ‘So this is what they can do?’ And people don’t get this privilege stuff? I know how they’re feeling. I am so angry and pained — and refusing to cry. It reminded me of something that James Baldwin said, when asked what it was like to be a Negro in the United States of America. He said that if you’re conscious of what’s going on in the country, and you’re a Negro, you’re in a constant state of rage.
“On a day like this, it’s the first thing that comes to mind. And all I can say is that I’m grateful knowing that hopefully nobody who looks like me is going to Capitol Hill to respond to this, because if they do, you’ll see a different response by law enforcement. You know it — and I know it.”
Roberts commented before police confirmed that a 35-year-old woman, Ashli Babbitt, was shot and killed in the capitol on Thursday. Three other people died as well from medical emergencies, local authorities said.
Players and coaches across the NBA commented on Wednesday’s events in Washington.
The Heat and Celtics left the court together shortly before their game in Miami, with the two teams issuing a joint statement just prior to tipoff saying they would play the 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 what side of certain issues they are on.”
Celtics coach Brad Stevens said the game came close to not being played, and that his players would have had “the full support of my staff, myself and our organization” had they elected not to take the floor.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr called the day’s events “a pretty clear reminder that the truth matters.” The Warriors, many of them wearing Black Lives Matter shirts, knelt for the anthem along with the Clippers before their game tipped off Wednesday night at Chase Center.
While Clippers coach Ty Lue called the show of unity “powerful,” veteran Paul George said he thought the NBA should have canceled games. Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard believes the day’s events at the U.S. Capitol would have been much different had it been African-Americans and other minorities who stormed the building.
For 76ers coach Doc Rivers, who was part of many discussions about how the league could use its platform in the Orlando, Florida, bubble during the NBA restart, it was a moment to remember those efforts have not been in vain.
“But what’s it not … is an attack on democracy,” Rivers said, adding, “Democracy will prevail. It always does.”
ESPN’s Tim Bontemps contributed to this report.
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