LeBron James, Frank Vogel and Anthony Davis are not the first members of the Lakers to use their media time in Orlando to ask for justice for Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old woman who was shot in her sleep by police during a no-knock warrant search of her boyfriend’s apartment in Louisville. But in their first extended remarks on the topic after the Lakers’ scrimmage against the Dallas Mavericks, all three of them spoke powerfully about systemic racism, justice and acknowledging privilege.
For his entire 13-minute postgame interview, James was especially raw and emotional, redirecting all basketball questions back to the topic of social justice, calling out the lack of progress the United States has made towards equality, and why he doesn’t like the word “movement” being used to describe the efforts of everyone who believes that Black Lives Matter.
Davis spoke about his own feelings on what James said, as well as everything that’s been going in the country since the deaths of Taylor and George Floyd. Vogel was open and honest about the conversations he’s been having with James, the Lakers and his friends about race, as well as addressing why he feels like it’s important for white people like himself to get comfortable talking about racism moving forward.
Normally, this is the type of thing we’d write a story on. But in this case, their words are so powerful and so honest that I’d be doing them a disservice by merely transcribing and printing them. This is too important. James, Vogel and Davis need to be watched — and heard — in full. You can do so below.
Justice for Breonna Taylor.
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