“I Screamed, I Scared My Daughter and I Was Punching Stuff”: Former NBA Players on the Aftermath of George Floyd’s Killing

Racism and police brutality in the United States of America took the life of another African-American on Monday. George Floyd, a 46-year-old man, died after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on Floyd’s neck, while he was handcuffed and lying facedown on the street. In this video, recorded by bystanders, one could hear Floyd repeatedly saying, “I can’t breathe,” but the police did not bother. Naturally, a lot of NBA Stars reacted to it.

The police officers had arrested Floyd because he had allegedly committed forgery. All officers on the scene were fired the next day but family members of the victim believe they should be charged for murder. Six years ago, Eric Garner, another African-American man, was killed by the police after being put into a chokehold. Garner too was saying “I can’t breathe,” before he suffocated to his death. His mother said Floyd’s death felt like “deja vu” and it forced her to relive her son’s death.

NBA players express anger and call for justice

Former NBA player Stephen Jackson was a close friend of Floyd. They have been friends since they met in the 90s and he called Floyd twin because they looked so similar. While speaking to the Today Show, Jackson revealed how he was devasted when he found out. “I haven’t been the same since I’ve seen it. It shut me down man, I screamed I scared my daughter and I was punching stuff,” Jackson said.

The most heartbreaking thing was when Jackson said how he found out about it. “My girlfriend’s mom sent me the video and I was thinking it’s just another black man getting murdered by the police,” Jackson said. He realized what happened later after receiving messages regarding the murder. Such incidents take place so often that one loses track of it.

Steph Curry wrote a long angry paragraph on Instagram which ended with “George was murdered. George wasn’t human to that cop that slowly and purposefully took his life away.”

Michael Porter Jr tweeted in support but faced backlash over it. He might have tweeted it in good faith but Twitter users were upset by the latter half of his tweet.

Reggie Miller, Isaiah Thomas, and Jaylen Brown are few other players who voiced out their opinion on Twitter.