Draymond Green isn’t a fan of Bob McNair’s inappropriate prison analogy about NFL players protesting police brutality against people of color.
The Golden State Warriors forward posted on Instagram on Friday, ripping the Houston Texans owner for his “Donald Sterling-esque” comments that were published Friday in an ESPN piece about meetings between NFL owners and players regarding the anthem protests that swept through the league earlier this season.
McNair has since apologized for saying “we can’t have the inmates running the prison,” both at the meeting where he said it and later with a public apology on Friday. But that wasn’t enough for many, including Green, who posted an image of his quote in a headline with a blistering comment about the owner’s words.
Wow! This sure does sound very Donald Sterling-esque. But I’m sure the fans pay to see him play and he’s putting himself at risk of CTE by going out there every Sunday and giving 110%! Inmates? For starters, let’s stop using the word owner and maybe use the word Chairman. To be owned by someone just sets a bad precedent to start. It’s sets the wrong tone. It gives one the wrong mindset. Webster states that an inmate is a person confined to an institution such as a prison or hospital. Not sure these tax paying men should be referred to as inmates- but what do I know?
Green kind of goes in here, evoking the name of the former Los Angeles Clippers owner who was forced to sell the team after his various racist statements were made public.
He also gets to the heart of why this kind of phrasing is important. While McNair characterized his words as evoking a “common metaphor,” he could have said any number of things that didn’t evoke incarceration or implied that NFL players are somehow trapped in a system.
And these common metaphors have an origin in our society. Green calling out the word “owner” is a similar story. The word is meant to represent the person who owns a sports team, but at times like this an athlete can surmise that team owners think they own the players, too. Green is painfully aware of the potential meaning of words like that, and it’s clear he’s not happy about it.
I’m sure he’s not the only one, either.
