The Los Angeles Clippers beat the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday night. After the game, Clippers coach Doc Rivers spoke to the media and gave a candid speech about the police shooting of Jacob Blake and his experience in America as a Black man. Rivers mentioned watching the “fear” that Donald Trump and members of the Republican Party have put on display, most recently during the first two nights of the Republican National Convention, before speaking broadly about why that is off-base.
“We’re the ones getting killed, we’re the ones getting shot, we’re the ones that were denied to live in certain communities,” an emotional Rivers said. “We’ve been hung, we’ve been shot, and all you do is keep hearing of fear. It’s amazing, to me, why we keep loving this country, and this country does not love us back.”
Rivers spoke to how he should not be constantly reminded of the color of his skin, and instead, he should just be a person who coaches basketball. He also called on individuals to “demand better” before pointing out the double-standard in how those protesting racial injustice are treated when compared to those who took up arms and stormed the Michigan capitol building in protest of COVID-19 lockdown measures enacted by the state’s governor.
“The training has to change in the police force, the unions have to be taken down in the police force,” Rivers would go on to say. “My dad is a cop, I believe in good cops, we’re not trying to defund the police and take all their money away. We’re trying to get them to protect us like they protect everybody else.”
From there, Rivers touched on Blake’s shooting, saying that any American should be “outraged” by the events that unfolded in the video that has circulated around social media in recent days. After again mentioning the fear being peddled at the RNC, Rivers discussed how white fathers don’t have to have conversations about “being careful if you get pulled over with their sons.”
Rivers mentioned the fact that the police officers who killed Breonna Taylor have not faced any charges, and to close, he gave one final plea.
“All we’re asking is you live up to the Constitution,” Rivers said. “That’s all we’re asking. For everybody. For everyone.”
Additionally, TNT’s Inside the NBA crew discussed the situation at length, with Charles Barkley commenting, “I’ve said it before, man, it’s exhausing being Black. It’s exhausting…when you watch George Floyd, if you’re not mad as a human being, there’s something wrong with you.”
