Derrick Rose wore this shirt Saturday. (USATSI)
Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose said his decision to wear a T-shirt during warmups Saturday night that read "I can't breathe" was to help make sure his son "grows up in a safe environment."
The shirt was a reference to the death of Eric Garner, a Staten Island, N.Y., man who died from a chokehold applied by police during an arrest last July. The incident was captured on video, and among Garner's last words were, "I can't breathe." Last week, a grand jury voted not to indict the officer who applied the hold.
From Bleacher Report, who was at Bulls' practice Monday:
"I grew up and I saw it every day," Rose said. "Not killing or anything like that, but I saw the violence every day. Just seeing what can happen. If anything, I'm just trying to change the kids' minds across the nation and it starts here."
"I'm a parent now," Rose said. "I had a kid two years ago. It probably would have been different [before his son was born]. I probably wouldn't have worn the shirt. But now that I'm a dad, it's just changed my outlook on life, period.
"I don't want my son growing up being scared of the police or having the thought that something like that could happen. I have a cousin, that easily could have been him (that was killed), or that easily could have been one of our relatives. It's sad that people lost their lives over that."
"Usually I'll stay out of politics and stay out of police brutality," Rose said. "I'm not saying all cops are bad or anything, I'm just saying what happened those days [in New York and Ferguson], it was uncalled for and I think that it hurt a lot of people. It hurt the nation.
"But my biggest concern is the kids. I know what they're thinking right now. I was one of those kids. When you live in an area like that and you've got no hope, and police aren't treating you any way, I'm not saying all police are treating kids bad, but when you live in an area like that, it gives you another reason to be bad. So my biggest concern is the kids and and making sure that my son grows up in a safe environment."
"I'm just happy that the league hasn't said anything," he said. "The franchise hasn't said anything. I'm happy that everything has been positive."
"I'm just happy that people paid attention to it," he said. "I think it touched a lot of people because I grew up in an impoverished area like that, and that stuff happens a lot of times. It touched a lot of people and I wanted to make sure I got my point across."
via Derrick Rose Opens Up About "I Can't Breathe" Shirt | Bleacher Report.
A completely reasonable explanation for Rose's actions, which have been widely lauded as an athlete speaking out on social matters. LeBron James has said that he wants to wear a similar shirt in Brooklyn on Monday.
Basketball Hot News
Kevin Durant: “I really don’t give a damn what people got to say… I’m not looking for no sympathy”
Kevin Durant, the NBA’s MVP and golden child, has heard more criticism in the past few months than he’s used to. It’s not Kobe level criticism, but he gets some.
First he backed out of a commitment to Team USA this summer, which left him open to some shots. Then he suffered a broken foot that required surgery, which has sidelined him for the start of the season — you can’t criticize a guy for an injury (well, the twitter verse will sometimes anyway) but he and Westbrook being down put the Thunder in danger of missing the playoffs, and even if they do it will be a long road from a low seed. Another year without a title will lead to whispers — unfair whispers, but they’ll be there — that Durant can’t lead a team to a ring.
Durant doesn’t care what you think. He doesn’t want your sympathy. He’s just feeling like Aretha — he wants some R-E-S-P-E-C-T, he told Michael Lee of the Washington Post.
“I really don’t give a damn what people got to say,” Durant said. “I really don’t care if they cut me slack or they don’t. I’m not looking for no sympathy from nobody. I’m not looking for no praise from nobody. It’s all good, either way with me. I just look for respect from teammates as a player and as a man. That’s what I want. All that other stuff, I learned how to tune that stuff out and not worry about. I used to think about it. ‘Are they going to cut me slack? Do they love me if I play this way.’ I really don’t give a damn….
“You can’t please everybody,” Durant continued. “I can go out there and average 50 points a game, it’s always going to be something people say. If you don’t like me for it, so what?”
KD, not always so nice.
You have to like that he’s developed a bit of an edge, a tougher skin over the years. He’s going to do what he’s going to do and he’s not listening to everyone else about it anymore.
I think the Thunder will make the playoffs, that they can get to the 48-49 wins it will take to get the eight seed in the West — but that’s as high as they go. Look at it this way: currently the 7 seed in the West, Dallas, is on pace for 59 wins. The Thunder aren’t getting anywhere near that number, or even the mid 50s, so they aren’t getting higher than the eight seed without help.
What will be interesting is to see teams jockey to avoid the Thunder in the first round. That’s a sign of R-E-S-P-E-C-T.
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