The Boston Celtics and Miami Heat players took a knee during the national anthem on Wednesday night. This comes after Donald Trump supporters breached the U.S. Capitol building to protest Joe Biden’s win in the presidential election. This also comes after prosecutors in Kenosha, Wisconsin decided not to bring charges against the police officers involved in the shooting of Jacob Blake.
The two teams made a joint statement and said they were hesitant to play the game due to everything that is going on in the country. We play tonight’s 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,” the Celtics and Heat said. “The drastic difference between the way protesters this past spring and summer were treated and the encouragement given to today’s protestors who acted illegally just shows how much more work we have to do.”
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Heat and Celtics players kneel during the national anthem
(via @IraHeatBeat)pic.twitter.com/zuwsJNKmQz
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“We have decided to play tonight’s game to try to bring joy into people’s lives,” the statement continued. “But we must not forget the injustices in our society, and we will continue to use our voices and our platform to highlight these issues and do everything we can to work for a more equal and just America.”
After the game, Heat All-Star Jimmy Butler shared his thoughts on the Capitol riots and the Blake ruling. “We see the two different USAs that we live in,” Butler said to reporters, via the Miami Herald. “It’s sad. …Everybody sees it. Everybody knows it now. You can’t say that you don’t understand it.”
There were several other NBA players and coaches who shared their thoughts on the Capitol riots. Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr called out three members of Congress before the team’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers.
“I wish that people like Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and Josh Hawley had to do pregame media before they met in Congress,” Kerr said as Yahoo Sports reported. “It would be great for them to answer the question: ‘Are you happy now? Do you keep moving the line back? Does this change anything? Are you going to continue to enable?’”
