Source: Allen Berezovsky / Getty
Just when it seemed like the Black Lives Matter protests had begun to wind down, the unjust shooting of Jacob Blake put the battery back in the back of NBA players who decided to boycott yesterday’s playoff games and Chris Webber was moved to tears when realizing the movement was still going strong amongst his peers.
During his NBA on TNT commentary yesterday in the NBA bubble in Orlando, Florida, Chris Webber was visibly moved when learning that every team scheduled to play yesterday boycotted the games in the name of social justice. After pointing out that it’s been 4 years to the day since Colin Kaepernick first took a knee on the football field and began this discussion on a national level, Chris Went on to explain the importance of such a sign of solidarity while choking up and fighting back tears.
“I keep hearing about next steps, next steps. I don’t really care what the next steps are because the first steps are to garner attention,” Webber said. “They have everybody’s attention around the world now. We know it won’t end tomorrow. We know there have been a million marches, and nothing will change tomorrow. We keep hearing vote. ‘Everybody vote.’ But I’m here to speak for those who are always marginalized. Those that live in these neighborhood where we peach and tell them to vote and walk away.”
After praising Charles Barkley for inspiring him as a youth to continue to chase his dream, Chris went on to say that he found himself explaining to his autism striken God son why players aren’t playing any basketball at the moment and having “young nephews i’ve had to talk to about death before they even seen it in a movie.”
As sad as that revelation was, it’s also a reality that people outside of the Black community will never truly understand.
Check out the emotional reaction from Chris Webber below.
