Boston Celtics

What current and former Boston athletes are saying following the Jacob Blake shooting

"I kind of feel like it’s my responsibility."

Devin McCourty is just one of the many Boston athletes that vocalized their thoughts, and emotions, following the shooting of Jacob Blake. Pat Greenhouse / Globe Staff

By Deyscha Smith

3 minutes to read

Following the shooting of Jacob Blake, a 29-year old Black man who was shot in the back seven times by a police officer in Kenosha, Wis. while trying to get inside his car on Sunday, athletes across the sports world have vocalized their emotions — and frustrations — with yet another police killing. Starting Wednesday, players took actions that in MLB, MLS, the NBA, and the WNBA, have resulted in the postponement of games.

Here’s how Boston athletes have reacted to the shooting of Blake.

Jackie Bradley Jr.: “I am the only Black person on this team. So I kind of feel like it’s my responsibility to address it in certain situations just so people can see what I feel and the things that I think about. I can take it on.”

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Bradley Jr. also spoke about his mother, a former Virginia State Trooper.

“To hear the things that she’s seen as a cop, the things she’s experienced as a Black woman. She’s able to tell you from both sides that she’s seen some stuff,” said Bradley Jr.. “She’s seen some bad stuff. And I’m glad that my mother is alive. She’s a very strong woman and she’s been able to instill a lot of great qualities in her children and I have the utmost respect for my mother.”

Jaylen Brown: “The question I would like to ask is: Does America think that Black people are uncivilized, savages, and naturally unjust?. Or are we products of the environments we participate in? That’s the question I would like to ask America, and America has proven its answer over and over and over again. Are we not human beings? Is Jacob Blake not a human being?

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“(Blake’s) kids will never unsee that. His family will never unsee that. And, frankly, I will never unsee it. People post my jersey all the time, No. 7. Every time I look at my jersey now, what I see is a Black man being shot seven times.”

https://twitter.com/FCHWPO/status/1298393674120929281?s=20

Jayson Tatum:  “Just knowing that his kids, they’ll be traumatized the rest of their lives, seeing their dad get shot for no reason. I couldn’t even imagine how that’s going to affect them for the rest of their life. There’s a lot of things that are way more important than what we’re doing on the court.”

Marcus Smart: “We tried the peaceful way. Kneeling, we tried to protest, we tried to come out here and get together and play this game and tried to get our voice across, but it’s not working. Obviously, something has to be done.”

Grant Williams: “Really, all we can hope and try to do is impact change, and that’s something that we have always strived for and it started with the kneeling, we were hoping that would send a message and it sent a sent a message, but then as that message gets pushed out, they stopped showing us. So, now it’s more-so about what can we do next to not only show that not only involved, but [that] we really care. It saddens us to see that nothing is changing.”

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Enes Kanter:

Bill Russell:

 

Ray Allen, sharing the words of Doc Rivers, as well as his own: 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CEWXWkFBBXS/

Mookie Betts: “For me, I think no matter what, I wasn’t going to play tonight,” Betts said. “I have to use my platform to at least get the ball rolling.”

Devin McCourty: “I don’t have a statement or anything powerful. It’s just been very disheartening watching things transpire. Watching lives still be lost. It’s not just police brutality, it’s everything we deal with. Today you guys are going to ask me questions on my opinions on different things, but I just feel like overall, until people turn things on and we watch and we all have the same outlook — ‘What is going on, this is heartbreaking. this is terrible.’ — it just don’t matter. I’ve felt hopeless over the last few days.”

 

Stephon Gilmore: 

Dont’a Hightower: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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