LeBron James, Donovan Mitchell And Others Condemned The Police Shooting Of A Black Man In Kenosha

Harrowing footage of another police shooting of a Black man circulated on social media on Sunday night after an incident in Kenosha, Wisconsin, quickly went viral and sparked outrage and protests in the town and online.

Jacob Blake, a Black resident of the town, was shot multiple times by police while his back was turned to officers, sparking a night of protests and condemnations from across the world, including Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. The NBA world also expressed its outrage with yet another example of an unarmed Black man being shot by police, starting with Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell.

“F the games and playoffs,” Mitchell wrote on Twitter Monday as video of the brutal shooting spread. “This is why we don’t feel safe.”

As a warning, the video is graphic but was shared by a number of players as further evidence of the systemic police brutality against Black people.

LeBron James, also in the Bubble in Orlando, shared his anger and pain about seeing yet another Black man shot by police, this time while an officer grabbed his shirt and fired several times into his back while Blake tried to get into a car with three of his children.

Others in the NBA community also shared their frustration and condemnation of the shooting.

Many retweeted a statement from Taylor Rooks on Monday.

The NBA’s players have made a point of continuing to advocate for social justice issues while in the Bubble, both with jersey slogans and actively commenting about societal issues while essentially sequestered from society in Orlando. Mitchell, for one, has largely turned his social media presence into a conduit to amplify the Black Lives Matter movement and encourage change.

Incidents like what happened in Kenosha on Sunday only seem to reaffirm their desire to speak about issues like this, as well as prove the point many have made that these societal problems are ongoing even while NBA basketball has resumed and that the focus can never shift off of these issues.