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Victor Oladipo: NBA players will protest during anthem
Posted On Sep 20 2016
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New Oklahoma City Thunder guard Victor Oladipo said that he expects to see similar protests by National Basketball Association players in the upcoming season.
“When there’s significant change and I feel like [the American] flag represents what it’s supposed to represent, [and that] this country is representing people the way that it’s supposed to, I’ll stand”, Kaepernick said on August 28.
“A few people, just in general, I’ve had conversations with about that. So whatever you believe, believe in to the utmost”, Oladipo said.
Given the anti-violence opening monologue delivered by National Basketball Association stars in this year’s ESPY Awards-as well as recent shooting of Chicago Bulls player Dwyane Wade’s cousin-expect for calls to action involving issues like gun violence and police brutality to become more prominent in the National Basketball Association. “He’s obviously continued the act to create a conversation for more social justice and things of that nature”, Curry said, Mercury News reports.
The 24-year-old Oladipo came to OKC from the Orlando Magic via trade as part of the return for big man Serge Ibaka.
The 24-year-old continued, saying that he hasn’t had any direct conversations with anyone around the league about protesting, but he believes with so many players, someone is bound to share the same belief as Kaepernick within the National Basketball Association. But I think definitely, we’ll see a few guys in the National Basketball Association doing the same thing.
“If you follow the way [Kaepernick] talks and the message he’s trying to send with his act, from his mouth, he’s not disrespecting veterans. That’s not his intention”, Curry said. “I was able to bring a lot of attention to this and able to get a lot of support”.
Kaepernick’s protest was perhaps influenced by the Black Lives Matter movement, which, through a coalition, has called for radical changes to improve the futures of African-Americans and to end the epidemic of state-sanctioned violence in their communities. He said he usually recited a prayer to himself.
