NBA players, coaches comment on scene at Capitol: ‘This is the epitome of white privilege’

Crawford was hardly alone in his sense that a racial double standard was in plain evidence, given the ability of the largely White crowd to break through barriers, smash windows and enter the Capitol building with apparent ease. Many, both in the NBA and elsewhere, claimed Wednesday that the police and National Guard presence in D.C. and other cities appeared to be much stronger, better organized and more proactive during last summer’s Black Lives Matter protests in the wake of George Floyd’s death while he was in the custody of Minneapolis police.

Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green was angry about the description of the lawbreakers. “It’s shameful to keep calling them protesters,” Green said after the Warriors’ loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday night. “They’re not f—— protesters. They’re f—— terrorists.”

Green, like others, saw a system that he said has not changed.

“It’s baffling with the reaction that the law enforcement had and whoever else was involved from an authoritarian standpoint to see the National Guard standing on those same steps when there was a peaceful protest and now to see a terrorist attack and there was no National Guard,” he said. “It just goes to show you where this country is and where this country has always been and probably where it’s going to stay, to be quite honest. Nothing’s changed. I think through social media and all of these different things we have at our fingertips today, we’re more aware of things. But nothing has changed. This is the same America that it’s been. It’s no different.”

Warriors Coach Steve Kerr, long outspoken on social and political matters, traced the violence to years of lies and misinformation as he watched what was unfolding at the Capitol. “We’ve been talking about this for years, but the truth matters in our country,” Kerr told reporters. “If we allow lies to spread and if we enable people in power to lie, you all of a sudden have millions of people doubting an election that was certified in every state.

“A legitimate election is suddenly questioned by millions of people, including the people who are leading our country in government,” he continued. “Because we’ve decided over the last few years to allow lies to be told. So this is who we are. You reap what you sow.”

Cleveland Cavaliers Coach J.B. Bickerstaff described the reaction of his young daughter. “My 8-year-old lil girl told my wife she was scared to go to sleep because of fear that those bad people in DC would come to Cleveland,” he tweeted. “No matter your politics that ain’t America! That is treason!”

Cavaliers forward Kevin Love called the Capitol violence “an absolute disgrace,” adding on Twitter that it was “a blatant example of inequity in how law enforcement chooses to deal with those involved.”

“Would the federal response at the Capitol now be the same if it were Black Lives Matters protesters physically forcing their way into the building?” New Orleans Pelicans Coach Stan Van Gundy asked on Twitter. “Remember the response in Oregon that was said to be needed to protect federal property?”

“If you are an American and aren’t embarrassed by the domestic terrorism taking place at the Capitol there is something wrong with you,” Van Gundy added. “This is a shameful day for our country.”

Van Gundy has long been outspoken on issues of social injustice. In 2017, when he was the coach of the Detroit Pistons, Van Gundy described athletes staging protests during the national anthem as “role models of American patriotism.”

Philadelphia 76ers Coach Doc Rivers pointed to White privilege when asked for his view of what was happening in the nation’s capital even as his team was set to host the Washington Wizards.

“I will say it because I don’t think a lot of people want to: Can you imagine today, if those were all Black people storming the Capitol, and what would have happened?” Rivers asked in response. “That, to me, is a picture that’s worth a thousand words for all of us to see. … No police dogs turned on people, no billy clubs hitting people. People peacefully being escorted out of the Capitol. So it shows you can peacefully disperse a crowd, would be one thing. But it’s a sad day, in a lot ways, not good for our country.”

Rivers’s counterpart Wednesday, Wizards Coach Scott Brooks, described the events in the city his team represents as “sad” and disgusting.”

“It’s a special place,” he said, “and you just hope that everybody from there, our fans, are safe. … You should not be able to do what I saw on video.”

Following the game, a Washington loss in which Wizards guard Bradley Beal scored 60 points, he said he had a “very emotional” reaction to what he saw earlier in the day.

“It’s very disheartening in a lot a ways,” said Beal, “just the lack of sense of urgency to respond to what was going on versus protesters with Black Lives Matter over the summer. … I retweeted something that Trump tweeted a few months ago, literally about the guys and people who will vandalize and basically disrespect any federal property in Portland and around the U.S., how those people will face a minimum of 10 years in prison. We’ll see if he has his foot in his mouth or if that’s something he really, truly stands by.”

All-star guard Russell Westbrook, who was traded to the Wizards from the Houston Rockets in December, said that with his family in the D.C. area, “it hits a little different for me now.”

“It’s very unfortunate to see if those roles were reversed, if those were African Americans and Black people, it would be totally different,” he said. “Unfortunately, there’s so much going on, there are so many people losing their lives, whether it’s covid, losing their family members. Sometimes, we can’t control civilians and what they do, we can control what we do to make change in our society. And that’s the biggest thing that we can do now.”

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Ty Jerome shared an image of a 2018 news story about a poll that showed a majority of respondents, including 89 percent of Trump voters, felt kneeling during the anthem was “not appropriate.” Jerome commented on the image with: “Ahhhhhh, they’re showing us the right way to protest today.”

When the NBA resumed the 2019-20 season at its bubble near Orlando, almost everyone involved in the games took a knee during the anthem. “Black Lives Matter” was painted on the courts, and players wore that phrase and others, such as “Say Her Name” and “I Am a Man,” on their jerseys.

Shortly before arriving at the bubble, Chicago Bulls guard Garrett Temple, then a member of the Brooklyn Nets, said that despite some misgivings, one of the reasons he decided to participate in the bubble was to take advantage of the platform it provided to raise awareness of racial issues “because there are going to be so many eyes watching these basketball games.”

While watching events unfold Wednesday, Temple exclaimed on Twitter, “This is the epitome of white privilege and Trumps ideal ending to his presidency!!”

Before a game in Miami on Wednesday between the Heat and the Boston Celtics, the teams released a joint statement in which they suggested that they considered not playing. Noting that authorities in Kenosha, Wis., announced Tuesday that a police officer will not face criminal charges for shooting Jacob Blake, a Black man, the Heat and Celtics said they would play “with a heavy heart” because of that decision. The statement added that “protesters in our nation’s capital are treated differently by political leaders depending on what side of certain issues they are on.”

“The drastic difference between the way protesters this past spring and summer were treated and the encouragement given to today’s protesters who acted illegally,” the teams said, “just shows how much more work we have to do.”

“I always thought if you operate with a win-at-all-costs attitude, it’s gonna be a pretty unfulfilling ending,” Celtics Coach Brad Stevens said of the president and his allies. “And in this situation, a disgraceful ending.”

“What’s going on [right now] in the America that we live in is disgusting,” wrote Boston Celtics forward Grant Williams. “The fact that this story will be told in our history is something that isn’t shocking but something that should never happen again. We must be better. I pray for safety to all those in threat by the TERRORISTS 2day.”

“What would happen if that was us?” wondered free agent Jordan McRae, who played for the Pistons last season.

“This crazy right now …” tweeted Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young. He added, “It’s sad to think we knew this was comin though!”

Several current and former NBA players simply expressed amazement with what they were seeing.

“Wild,” opined Utah Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson, while the Memphis Grizzlies’ Ja Morant wrote, “this [expletive] is wild dawg.” Morant’s teammate, Jaren Jackson Jr., tweeted, “Speechless kinda.”