Thursday 11 June 2020 14:20, UK
US journalist Marc J Spears shares his thoughts on the worldwide protests over the killing of George Floyd, the response from the NBA family and why he hopes Floyd's death could be the spark that triggers permanent social change.
Spears is a senior writer for ESPN's The Undefeated, a website that explores the intersection of race and sports.
In an extensive interview with Sky Sports NBA presenter Jaydee Dyer, he shared his thoughts on the global protests over Floyd's killing, the Black Lives Matter movement and the response to social and racial injustice from former NBA star Stephen Jackson, current NBA players, coaches and team owners...
We need whatever fire that's going on now not to extinguish. Everybody that's raising their hand, hugging and yelling and checking on us, keep the fight going. Let's knock this out together. If a cop does something like that, (they should be) fired and jailed, maybe life in jail.
It's not just black people. Black people have to be accountable, too. If someone says something bad about white people, say something. If somebody says something bad about Asians, say something. We can't just look out for our own race. Look out for everybody. Support everybody's things.
We have got to all be in this truly together and it's not going to be that way. Everybody is not our friend, everybody doesn't want our love. There are people scared of a world where everything is fair. But the world is changing, so get hip to the programme.
Hopefully, for real, this time, finally, this time we have people's ear. Hopefully a year from now you can say that we have still got their heart too and they are doing stuff to change things.
Don't be afraid to ask. Ask a black man. Remember that on (The) Dave Chappelle (Show)? 'Ask a black man, we'll tell you'. There are no bad questions.
Former NBA player Stephen Jackson, a childhood friend of George Floyd and his family, has emerged as a leading voice in the fight against racial injustice in America. Jackson joined Spears on June 2 on an Instagram live stream to discuss being at the forefront of the protests against police brutality.
I don't think that 'Jax' has truly mourned yet because he feels like there is too much that he needs to accomplish before he can take a deep breath. He lives in Atlanta but right now he lives in Minneapolis because he is fighting a fight.
I've known Jax a long time and I've known him to be angry at times. For him to show love, when he has every reason to be angry right now is beautiful to me. It is really beautiful to me. He said that he has told somebody from every race that he loves them. How many people could say that? He wants to take this nightmarish murder and turn it into something that is world-changing. To see people in Syria and Iraq and the soccer players saying "#GeorgeFloyd" or wearing "I Can't Breathe" shirts, it's powerful.
Jackson said that George Floyd ended up being bigger than him. It was a horrible way but for the first time, I feel like something actually good could come out of the next bad thing for black people. With the cops, with white people, with humanity… let's not put it all on white people. There are racist people in every race. Everybody needs to love everybody.
We're born, nobody asked us what we wanted to be. We're a product of our environment and a product of our parents. Hopefully, in his mind, I could tell that there was a glimmer of hope that perhaps from something so awful and terrible that something could be born that is beautiful and world-changing.
My sister said it best. She's like, 'Marc, why should we trust that people care now. They didn't care a month ago with (the killing of) Ahmaud Arbery'. How many people before that? Rodney King was my generation. For my parents, it was the civil right movement. You can go all the way back to slavery. Nobody cared before. Why should we trust now?
Then she said, 'Marc, we can't change the past but hopefully they care now so the next generation doesn't have to cry like we cry'.
Our hope to me is in the young people. Folks in our generation are already screwed up but to me there is hope in the youth. They don't see colour like we do. They don't care what colour you are, what your sexual orientation is or where you are from, 'are you cool man, because I'm cool… I like hip-hop, let's go'.
So, this generation is going to be like that, it's going to be a melting pot. Hopefully they're tired, more tired than we've been. I'm exhausted, I have cried a lot, but let's change it. We can't change the past, this dark nightmarish, murderous, lynching, wrong, unfair, tables-being-uneven land but they can change the future. This is the spark.
Marc J Spears spoke to Sky Sports NBA before NFL commissioner Roger Goodell released a statement on June 6 in which he said "Black Lives Matter" and admitted "we were wrong for not listening to NFL players earlier" who were protesting police brutality by taking a knee during the national anthem before games. The protests were initiated by Colin Kaepernick in August 2016. In his statement, Goodell did not mention Kaepernick - who has not played in the NFL since January 1, 2017 - by name.
The interview with Spears also took place before New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees said he "will never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the United States". Brees subsequently backtracked on his comments, issued an apology on Instagram and addressed his team-mates in a private meeting.
The NBA is a different fraternity. Shout out to Kyle Korver, JJ Redick, Kevin Love. They are down for the cause. What pains me more is not seeing that in the National Football League. Have you heard from Tom Brady? Peyton Manning? Eli Manning? Drew Brees? Philip Rivers?
That's the thing that saddens me. It's like every Sunday you play with these guys, your team-mates are predominately black. You sweat, you fight, practice and travel to get there but you haven't really got their backs. It's just a job to you… you know what I mean? That's disappointing.
(No 1 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft) Joe Burrow, that's my guy. He has said more than any of (the veteran quarterbacks) and he has not even played a down in the NFL. But he is from the younger generation too, so, perhaps Joe is a sign of change.
In the NBA, we could praise Steve Kerr, Gregg Popovich and Stan Van Gundy and all of the coaches, it's all real. How about the owners? I think that (Sacramento Kings owner) Vivek Ranadive is an amazing person, I think he is great. Marc Lasry (co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks), I know the kind of things that they have been doing. Can we say that about every NBA owner?
The NFL statement is a hollow statement to me - you basically destroyed (Colin) Kaepernick's career and kicked him out and then all of a sudden… come on, stop! Save the wasted time for that statement. Prove it to me with your actions. That's it for me with the statements, they are nice and I appreciate them as an African American man, sure. I don't know if they have this saying in England but, I was born in St Louis, Missouri, and Missouri is the 'show me state'. Show me… talk is cheap.
I think that the players need to use their voice and their power more. I called out the Detroit Pistons the other day with factual information about how they recently lost their only black person in the executive part of the front office. The rest of them were white males, it's factual. (Overall), the NBA is 75 per cent black.
I think what people lose is that diversity is going to make you better. Diverse thought is going to make you better. A diverse universe makes you better. If you are just around the same people all of the time, you're not going to grow as a person.
It can affect them because they feel like they're going to lose jobs and the next generation is going to lose jobs, if the tables are actually turned and the world is fair.
When you're used to being hand-delivered something all of the time or getting preferential treatment all of the time, if you're able to be in pole position all of the time, it's hard to be in the second car. Let alone car #15!
Society is changing. College basketball in America two years ago was the first time that the majority of black players weren't first-generation college (ie - the first member of their family to enrol in college). There are a lot of black folks who are getting educated, who are fighting through the storm and trying to build their own opportunities. I have my master's degree; I have three degrees but if you don't ask me, you wouldn't know.
I got my master's from Louisiana State University. I was on a plane - when we could go on planes still. I get off a plane, I'm in business class and this guy goes, 'are you out here for a recruitment trip to try to speak to a potential football player? A white dude. I was like, 'no, I actually got my master's at LSU. I'm just wearing my school stuff'. 'Oh', he said. He was interested in me if I was trying to get some brother to play football, but as soon as I told him I was educated…
(It was) just the assumption that, I was in business (class so he assumed), 'he's black, he's got LSU (gear) on, he's big (I'm 6ft 6in)'… I get that every day, 'who do you play for?'
In the NBA you see guys like LeBron James, Steph Curry and Kevin Durant. They have done amazing jobs at changing the game. They are doing their own media and they have got their own platforms. Is everything great? No, everything is not great but every movie you see isn't great either.
They've got their own media companies, they're in tech. Andre Iguodala is amazing, if you look at some of the stuff that he is doing. Steph Curry has got a TV show, 'Holy Moly'. I like it, it's a crazy show but I like it.
These athletes are doing stuff, they're making money that is going to last past their playing days and I think that the days of the broke athlete are over because now they're realising that they can use their name, power and popularity to do more than just sell shoes.
