It’s been an emotional day around the NBA. The Black Lives Matter movement has been fighting for social justice reform for years, with the police killings of unarmed black people in America reaching a tipping point in 2020, as George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and many others becoming the faces of the movement.
On Wednesday, after six months without any arrests, police in Kentucky finally filed charges against one of the officers who killed Taylor, a “wanton endangerment” charge that many saw as a slap in the face to Black people everywhere who fear for their lives against a police system that continues to operate with relative impunity.
The NBA and WNBA world, sports media hosts, and LeBron James all sounded off on that development on Wednesday, decrying the lack of accountability for police officers who were able to enter a Black woman’s home while she was sleeping and shoot her to death while receiving little more than a slap on the wrist.
After Game 4 of the Celtics-Heat series, ESPN’s Malika Andrews was the latest to sound off about the Taylor case, using her time on SportsCenter to give us a tearful and powerful reminder that, as a Black woman who is the same age as Taylor was, she’s in the same position as so many Americans who fear for their lives against a police system that is supposed to protect us.
“That could have been me” – @malika_andrews pic.twitter.com/eq7COP1E90
— Stu Motown #BlackLivesMatter (@cjzero) September 24, 2020
Andrews reiterated the fact that, while players didn’t consider sitting out Wednesday night’s game, they vowed to use their platform to continue to bring their message to the masses. The league, its players, and its owners have created a massive social reform campaign that seeks to bring education, money, and awareness about various equal justice initiatives. Wednesday’s news in the Taylor case only underscores the need for that now more than ever.
