Toronto Raptors Players Say Team Is Discussing Boycott Over Jacob Blake Shooting
‘NOTHING’S CHANGING’
The Toronto Raptors are considering a boycott after the Sunday shooting of Jacob Blake in Wisconsin, according to players Fred VanVleet and Norm Powell. In a media call on Tuesday, the two guards said the team has discussed skipping games since the NBA’s recent Black Lives Matter campaign isn’t doing enough to combat police brutality against Black people. “I’m in a different place today, emotionally speaking. It’s starting to feel like everything we’re doing is just going through the motions, nothing’s changing,” VanVleet reportedly said. “What are we willing to give up? Do we actually give a fuck about what’s going on?” Powell added that, “Taking a knee for the anthem, that’s not getting the job done. It’s starting to get washed out.”
The Detroit Lions are also protesting Blake’s shooting by canceling Tuesday practice, sharing their own encounters with the police, and giving advice on how to cope with the police brutality plaguing the country. “We’re at a point in time where a lot of tragic events continue to keep happening to Black people, people of color,” Lions safety Duron Harmon told reporters outside the locker room. “So as we came in today, as a team, we looked each other in the eye and realized that football is not important today.”