US athletes against racism
TV sports presenter joins NBA protest and leaves live broadcast
Former basketball professional Kenny Smith (r.) And expert leaves the live broadcast of “Inside the NBA”
© Screenshot Twitter
Kenny Smith, one of the hosts of the basketball TV show “Inside the NBA”, left the studio during the show in solidarity with the NBA protest against racism. Before that, he justified his step emotionally.
The NBA protest against racism in the form of a boycott of games receives a lot of solidarity. Sports presenter Kenny Smith, one of the experts on the TV show “Inside the NBA”, joined the protest by leaving the live broadcast. The former basketball professional justified his move with emotional words:
“That’s tough. I mean, my head is about to explode right now because of the thoughts I’m having,” said Smith. “I don’t even know if I have any right to say what the players are feeling or how they are feeling. I haven’t spoken to any of the players. I just came here, I only heard calls and conversations. And me as a black “As a former player, I think it’s best to support the players and just not be here tonight.”
Shoutout to Kenny Smith pic.twitter.com/7DUHjr6zIA
— NBA Central (@TheNBACentral) August 26, 2020
Moderator Johnson: I respect that
Moderator Ernie Johnson, Smith replies as he puts his microphone on the table and leaves the studio: “I respect that.”
Previously, on the anniversary of Colin Kaepernick’s first anti-racism protest, the Milwaukee Bucks basketball team had spontaneously decided to boycott and did not play against Orlando Magic. The immediate cause was the shooting by two police officers at the black man Jacob Blake in the city of Kenosha in the US state of Wisconsin. Blake has been in the hospital seriously injured since then and is likely to remain paralyzed his entire life.
The boycott of the Bucks was followed by other teams from the NBA, MLB (Major League Baseball), MLS (Major League Soccer) and WNBA (Women’s National Basketball Association) and initially forego their games. Tennis star Naomi Osaka also showed solidarity and waived her semifinals at the Masters in New York, which was scheduled for Thursday, just before the US Open.
