That’s how the NBA reacted to the Capitol Hill protests

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While the United States tried to deal with the scenes that appeared in Washington DC. On Wednesday afternoon, when President Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol, the sports world was trying to figure out how to process the day’s events along with anything else.

“But what’s not,” said the Philadelphia 76ers coach. Doc Rivers, Wednesday night, “I’ve been hearing this is an attack on democracy. It’s not. Democracy will prevail. It always happens. However, it shows a lot. When I saw the protest in the summer and saw the riots, I saw the police , the national guard and the army, and then you see this and you don’t see anything (similar) … Basically, it demonstrates a point about privileged life in many ways.

“I will say it, because I don’t think many people want to (say it): can you imagine if it were all African-Americans who stormed the capital, what would have happened? For me, this is a picture worth a thousand words, which we should all see and probably something we need to think about again.

“No police dog attacked people, no police beat people. People were escorted peacefully outside the Capitol. So show that you can peacefully disperse a lot. But it is a sad day, in many ways, it is not good for our country. On the other side of the border, people will see this, but it’s part of who we are, so we have to solve it.

While the men’s basketball game between the University of Massachusetts and George Washington University in the nation’s capital has been postponed, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported Wednesday that there were no formal talks between the NBA and National Association of Basketball Players on the possibility of postponing any of the 11 league matches scheduled for Wednesday night. This included the NBA team in Washington, Wizards, who were to play in Philadelphia against the 76ers.

“We should be better than that,” said Washington Wizards coach. Scott Brooks. “When I watch the videos, it’s disgusting. This is a special place and you just hope everyone is safe. That shouldn’t be allowed. It’s unacceptable.”

The same can be said about plans NFL for this weekend’s wild card game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and The Washington football team ro Landover, Maryland.

“There are no changes to the status of any games this weekend,” the NFL spokesman said. Brian McCarthy.

It’s been a tumultuous 24 hours since no charges were filed for the shooting Jacob Blake in Kenosha, this summer. On Tuesday afternoon, the two Democratic candidates for the two open Senate seats in Georgia, Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, were named winners of those races Wednesday morning and then came the violent scenes Capitol Hill Wednesday afternoon.

Boston Celtics coach, Brad Stevens, said he and his players discussed the decision in Blake’s case Wednesday morning, but did not have a chance to talk to them after everything that happened in Washington that afternoon.

“I saw everything,” Stevens said. “I am sure our players saw everything. I’m sure everyone saw her. I think my reaction is sad. I think the way I see it is that I think we all hope that the people we choose to lead should shape their leadership, do so in a motivated way to serve others with compassion, acting with grace. And instead we choose a president who, fortunately, comes out and others who have not shown that grace.

“It simply came to our notice then. And they simply worked with a “win at all costs” attitude. And I don’t know, our sports world is much less important, obviously, but I always thought that if you operate with a “win at all costs” attitude, it will be a pretty low and unsatisfactory end. And in this situation, a shameful ending.

“So I’m looking forward to two weeks from now, just like other people.”

Few places have felt more excitement in the past 24 hours than Atlanta, where Warnock became the first African-American man elected to the state Senate a few hours before Wednesday afternoon’s riots broke out.

But for Lloyd Pierce, the Atlanta Hawks coach who was at the forefront of the organization’s effort to get the vote in both the November general election and the special election that just took place, said what he saw on Wednesday was not unexpected. .

“It’s tragic,” Pierce said. “I think it’s sad, honestly. I think it’s a sad reality, that’s exactly it. It’s unfortunate that we see this in our country after the year we passed. But it’s not unexpected. One day for someone like me, a man African-American, one day look here in Georgia and see someone like Raphael Warnock becoming the first African-American man to represent the state of Georgia in the Senate and see the next day that this is the reaction, this is the reality.

“It is no coincidence that this is the reaction to all events. We continue to talk about what happened yesterday with very promising elections. The people of Georgia came out and voted. African Americans in Georgia voted higher than in the Nov. 3 election. They spoke for this state and for the country.

“We live in a divided country and we can say that it is power and politics, but it is also race. And today it is a reflection and it is true for those who neglected the issues related to people of color, communities of color, African Americans. And their ability to have access, if they have ever neglected it, I see it today, is real Racism is real The problems are real The protests have been real Because what we see is sad, it is a sad reality that our country must “I recognize her and recognize her. For those who did not believe her, I hope they will believe her now.”

Both Pierce and Rivers also talked about the difficulties of seeing how the protesters were treated this summer, when the subject was Black life matters, and how they were treated on Wednesday when they were seen taking pictures with police officers and opening gates to allow them to enter the Capitol.

“These are not the masses,” Rivers said. “The masses have spoken. I’m very proud of Georgia. Georgia talked, you know? So these are not the masses. This is a group of people who have decided to be rebellious. And if we left him like that, you know, I think we’d all be in a better place, right? But the symbolism of the assault on the Chapter without its force. If you are African-American, it certainly touches you in a different way. This is not for African Americans. This is an American thing and we should not do it that way. But it definitely makes you think, sure. ”

“I wish I knew the answer to that,” Pierce said. “It will never change until it is recognized that there is a difference. It will never change if there is no recognition of the past about how African Americans have always been treated and their history. Return to slavery, return to Reconstruction You can say that things will change if you do not recognize that there is a problem What you see today is a reminder that there is a big difference.

“There is a reason why there are no shootings, brutality, robberies and things like that, and people walk around the Capitol as if it were nothing. And there are people sitting in the office Nancy Pelosi like nothing. We all understand that there would have been weapons and fire right now if the African-Americans had protested. If it were African-Americans protesting abroad. I didn’t even mention that people were entering and destroying the building. But none of this will change until we recognize that there is a huge difference in the way African Americans are treated in law enforcement and that this has not happened.

“I fought for it, there were protests, there’s a reason people encouraged others to come out and vote to change leadership. But until you really recognize that there is a difference in how “African Americans in this country, especially when it comes to law enforcement, in such situations that will not change.”

And in the middle of it all, the players and coaches were trying to figure out how to stay focused on the task at hand as they took in everything that was going on around them.

“There are so many layers,” said the Houston Rockets coach. Stephen Silas. “It happens in the Chapter building, then there is the reason and then the reason: division and all these other things. There is a long history of division in our country when it comes to political parties, but It seems that there is more division in humanity at this time “That’s what I’m dealing with right now.”

ESPN’s Tim MacMahon and Royce Young contributed to this report.

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