Brooklyn Nets: Kyrie Irving’s Message Now Being Heard

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Kyrie Irving
Kathy Willens / AP Photo

The NBA cancelled games for the rest of today after the Milwaukee Bucks boycotted their Game 5 game against the Orlando Magic.

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The decision came after the Sunday shooting of Jacob Blake a Black man, in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

An unarmed Black man, Blake was shot multiple times in the back by police as he entered his SUV in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Blake’s three children aged three, five and eight were in the car.

The national spotlight is again focused on Black men and their relationship with police officers.

What’s next?

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Back in June, Brooklyn Nets point guard, Kyrie Irving organized a conference call with pro-basketball players from both the WNBA and the NBA.

The purpose of the call was for players to voice their concerns regarding the NBA’s decision to resume play in Orlando next month. More specifically, the task force’s mission has been to explore solutions for players reluctant to speak out. Irving, a Vice President of the NBA’s Players Association was joined by Player Association President Chris Paul.

Irving’s Nets teammate, Kevin Durant was on the line, so was the Utah Jazz’s Donovan Mitchell, the Portland Trail Blazers’ Damian Lillard, Carmelo Anthony and C.J. McCollum were on the line too.

Irving opted not to join the Nets at the NBA bubble in Orlando. He also made it clear privately and in conference call meetings that he is on a united front with his NBA bretheren and specifically with Los Angeles Lakers guard, Avery Bradley.

Irving faced ridicule by many who believed that he was wrong especially when he stated on the call: “I don’t support going into Orlando. I’m not with the systematic racism and the bullshit …

“Something smells a little fishy. Whether we want to admit it or not, we are targeted as black men every day we wake up.”

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With today’s announcement that games were cancelled, Irving was trending on Twitter with some believing that the NBA Champion was right in not showing up to the NBA bubble.

“The whole point is to use the platform to make change,” a source close to the Nets point guard told me this afternoon.

“Now that there’s basketball being played, the platform being provided is a distraction. We need to be using this unique opportunity to create change.”

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