{"id":39031,"date":"2020-08-02T11:59:00","date_gmt":"2020-08-02T08:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/black-lives-matter-supporting-nba-player-stands-for-anthem\/"},"modified":"2020-08-02T11:59:00","modified_gmt":"2020-08-02T08:59:00","slug":"black-lives-matter-supporting-nba-player-stands-for-anthem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/black-lives-matter-supporting-nba-player-stands-for-anthem\/","title":{"rendered":"#Black Lives Matter-supporting NBA player stands for anthem"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Black Lives Matter-supporting NBA player stands for anthem<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

\n LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. \u2014 Meyers Leonard has a brother who served two tours in Afghanistan with the U.S. Marines. He carries a military-theme<\/a>d backpack, wears combat boots and has a phone loaded with Navy SEALs who are his friends.<\/p>\n

He also makes this clear: \u201cI absolutely believe Black Lives Matter,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Still, Leonard simply could not bring himself to kneel for the national anthem.<\/p>\n

Wearing a Black Lives Matter T-shirt over a jersey that he ordered to say \u201cEquality,\u201d and as all other coaches and players around him knelt, Leonard stood for the playing of \u201cThe Star-Spangled Banner\u201d on Saturday before the Heat re-opened their season by facing the Denver Nuggets at Walt Disney World.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of the conversations I\u2019ve had over the past three days, quite literally, have been the most difficult,\u201d Leonard told The Associated Press prior to the game<\/a>. \u201cI am with the Black Lives Matter movement and I love and support the military and my brother and the people who have fought to defend our rights in this country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leonard dealt with anxiety and sleeplessness for several days as he agonized over the decision. He explained his reasoning before Saturday to current teammates and several former ones, almost all of them Black \u2014 then stood near midcourt, hand over his heart, as the song blared.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am a compassionate human being and I truly love all people,\u201d Leonard said. \u201cI can\u2019t fully comprehend how our world, literally and figuratively, has turned into Black and white. There\u2019s a line in the sand, so to speak: \u2018If you\u2019re not kneeling, you\u2019re not with us.\u2019 And that\u2019s not true.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will continue to use my platform, my voice and my actions to show how much I care about the African American culture and for everyone,\u201d he added. \u201cI live my life to serve and impact others in a positive way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Meyers<\/img>
Meyers Leonard<\/span>AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The focus of this restarted NBA season, interrupted for more than 4-1\/2 months by the coronavirus pandemic, has been to continue shining light on the need for racial justice and an end to police brutality. NBA teams are kneeling, often linking arms, for the pre-recorded national anthem along a sideline where \u201cBlack Lives Matter\u201d is painted.<\/p>\n

Orlando Magic forward Jonathan Isaac, who is Black, stood for the anthem before his team\u2019s game Friday and opted not to wear the \u2018Black Lives Matter\u2019 shirt that players and coaches have donned at Disney for the pregame ceremony.<\/p>\n

Later Friday, San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich and Spurs assistant Becky Hammon both stood for the anthem. Popovich, a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, stood with arms at his side. Hammon draped her arms over the shoulders of fellow assistant Will Hardy and Spurs guard Patty Mills.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did feel a little bit of a load lifted off my shoulders when they did that,\u201d Leonard said. \u201cEach of those individuals had their own personal reasons, just as I do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Heat forward Andre Iguodala, a member of the National Basketball Players Association\u2019s executive committee, said he respected Leonard\u2019s choice.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the one hand, we\u2019re saying, \u2018We want you to see things from our perspective,\u2019\u201d Iguodala said. \u201cBut by saying that, I also have to see things from his perspective. And I can see where he\u2019s coming from.\u201d<\/p>\n

Heat captain Udonis Haslem had multiple conversations with Leonard in recent days about his decision. Haslem has made several things clear; he originally wished to see Leonard kneel, but after those talks he came away with understanding \u2014 and vowed the Heat would support their teammate.<\/p>\n

As the song ended, Haslem was the first to tap fists with Leonard.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis being out there with us, as our brother, it\u2019s still showing strength, it\u2019s still showing unity, it\u2019s still showing that we\u2019re coming together for a common cause,\u201d Haslem said. \u201cPeople will question, \u2018Why isn\u2019t he doing it their way?\u2019 Well, he\u2019s standing by us. He\u2019s supporting us. He\u2019s with us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Haslem has seen Leonard\u2019s commitment to helping others. Leonard raised $180,000 in April by streaming himself playing video games online; that money went to causes such as Feeding South Florida, a group with which Haslem and the Heat worked closely.<\/p>\n

And Saturday, Leonard said he and his wife will donate $100,000 to a fund that helps pay the fees Floridians leaving jails or prisons must settle before they can have their voting rights restored.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause I\u2019ve listened to Udonis and am constantly inspired by him, every single one of those dollars will go to Overtown and Liberty City, where he grew up,\u201d Leonard said, referring to two of Miami\u2019s historic Black neighborhoods. \u201cThose two parts of Miami were most heavily impacted by COVID-19 and voter suppression.\u201d<\/p>\n

Heat forward Jimmy Butler also tried to make a statement Saturday, walking onto the court with a jersey without any name on the back. He unsuccessfully lobbied the NBA to play in a jersey with just a number, and had to switch into a jersey with his name before the game could begin.<\/p>\n

Former teammates have warned Leonard that he may deal with criticism, possibly from fellow NBA players. His eyes welled with tears many times in recent days as he worked through the decision, his reaction so strong that he was shaking when he explained his choice to Heat teammates.<\/p>\n

It was not an easy decision. It may not be popular.<\/p>\n

But Saturday morning, a few hours before the anthem, Bailey Leonard, the former Marine, texted his brother and said \u201cStay true to you. Stay the course. I love you. Your family loves you. Your community loves you.\u201d<\/p>\n

If Leonard had any doubt, it evaporated there.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know he\u2019s proud of me,\u201d Leonard said. \u201cAnd if he\u2019s proud of me, and if my brothers on this team are with me, then I know this is what I have to do.\u201d\n <\/p><\/div>\n

\n

If you want to read more Sports News<\/a> articles, you can visit our General category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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“#Black Lives Matter-supporting NBA player stands for anthem” LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. \u2014 Meyers Leonard has a brother who served two tours in Afghanistan with the U.S. Marines. He carries a military-themed backpack, wears combat boots and has a phone loaded with Navy SEALs who are his friends. He also makes this clear: \u201cI absolutely…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39032,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[47670],"class_list":["post-39031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-black-lives-matter-supporting-nba-player-stands-for-anthem"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39031","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39031"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39031\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}