Dwayne Taylor
NBA superstar LeBron James is letting the world know last night's headline-generating moment where the league kneeled to protest police brutality came from Colin Kaepernick's inspirational movement. The three-time league champion gave the Black Lives Matter activist a major shout-out following the Los Angeles Lakers/Los Angeles Clippers game.
LeBron James Salutes Colin Kaepernick
During a post-game press conference, King James spoke with the media about the league kneeling in unison to support an end to systematic racism. James also placed a heavy emphasis on crediting Colin for inspiring the teams’ decision to kneel.
“I hope we continue to make Kap proud. Every single day I hope I make him proud on how I live my life, not only on the basketball floor, but off the floor. … I want to always speak out against things that I feel like are unjust. I always want to be educated on things and go about it that way. … Kap was someone who stood up when times weren’t comfortable, when people didn’t understand, people refused to listen to what he was saying. If you go back and go look at any of his postgame interviews when he was talking about why he was kneeling, it had absolutely nothing to do with the flag. It had absolutely nothing to do with the soldiers, the men and women that keep our land free.”
LeBron made sure to put plenty emphasis on the importance of pushing for social justice during his press conference.
High-Key Details
Prior to last night’s tip-off, both LeBron James’ Lakers and the Los Angeles Clippers went to the court to kneel during the televised broadcast.
Wait, There’s More
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has publicly shared his support for social justice but also made it restricted for players to kneel during the national anthem. However, under recent circumstances and the growing Black Lives Matter movement, Adam said he would not stop players from the peaceful protest.
No players knelt for the anthem in 2017 when the phenomenon was at its peak in the NFL. The NBA technically has a rule on its books prohibiting players from kneeling for the national anthem. Commissioner Adam Silver confirmed that he will not enforce that rule, though, due to the unique circumstances surrounding this game and moment in history. “I respect our teams’ unified act of peaceful protest for social justice and under these unique circumstances will not enforce our long-standing rule requiring standing during the playing of our national anthem,” Silver said, according to Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes. (CBS Sports)
Before You Go
A few days ago, music icon Dr. Dre linked up with Colin Kaepernick. Dre made a rare appearance on his Instagram page to share a moment between them both kneeling together.
“Defiant. @kaepernick7” -Dr. Dre’s Instagram
“🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥✊🏾👑” -LeBron James
“💪🏿💪🏿” -Tony Yayo
