Update 06/16/2020 10:11am:

Kyrie Irving is leading a coalition of players against resuming the 2019-2020 NBA season, saying bringing back the league will only distract the country from having a dialogue about the systemic racism that is affecting the states in a major way. Now, Matt Barnes has given his take on Irving’s move and gave insight into what he thinks should happen moving forward.

Barnes hopped on IG Live with podcast co-host Stephen Jackson and revealed what he’s heard about Irving so far. Barnes said “Kyrie needs to quit bulls**tting. Kyrie wanted to go to Orlando to support his team, they didn’t let him. So then he flipped the script, talking about I’m gonna give up everything. Bro, you can give up everything and go do the Maya Moore s**t if you really want to. But at the same time, sitting out without a cause or a purpose defeats the purpose.”

This comes after Irving previously said he is reportedly “willing to give up everything” for social justice reform. Stay tuned for more updates.


Original 06/15/2020 10:18pm:

According to reports, Kyrie Irving and Lakers guard Avery Bradley are leading a coalition of players against the resumption of the 2019-20 NBA season. The group is raising concerns over the pandemic and believe resuming play will only distract the country from much-needed conversations about systemic racism. Irving and Bradley are hoping to provide a voice to players that are having trouble reconciling playing basketball in the midst of the current sociopolitical climate. 

Irving and Bradley led the call on Monday that featured 40 players following a call on Friday that had around 100 participants. The call featured John Carlos, Olympic medalist, and social activist who is known for raising his fist on the medal podium at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. Carlos spoke with the players about his perspective on social justice and how they can best use their platforms. 

The coalition issued the following statement to ESPN: 

"We are a group of men and women from different teams and industries that are normally painted as opponents, but have put our egos and differences aside to make sure we stand united and demand honesty during this uncertain time.

Native indigenous African Caribbean men and women entertaining the world, we will continue to use our voices and platforms for positive change and truth.

We are truly at an inflection point in history where as a collective community, we can band together—UNIFY—and move as one. We need all our people with us and we will stand together in solidarity.

As an oppressed community we are going on 500-plus years of being systemically targeted, used for our IP/Talent, and also still being killed by the very people that are supposed to 'protect and serve' us.

WE HAVE HAD ENOUGH!

We are combating the issues that matter most: We will not accept the racial injustices that continue to be ignored in our communities. We will not be kept in the dark when it comes to our health and well-being. And we will not ignore the financial motivations/expectations that have prevented us historically from making sound decisions.

This is not about individual players, athletes or entertainers. This is about our group of strong men and women uniting for change. We have our respective fields, however, we will not just shut up and play to distract us from what this whole system has been about: Use and Abuse.

We are all fathers, daughters leaders and so much more. So what is our BIG picture? We are in this for UNITY and CHANGE!"

Source: bleacherreport.com