‘Demoralizing news’
Breonna Taylor decision puts NBA, Celtics players on alert
The police shooting death of Breonna Taylor, in particular, seems to have struck a personal chord with players across the NBA.
Several Celtics, including Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart, have spoken out repeatedly about bringing the Louisville officers to justice for the EMT’s death as the result of a mistaken noknock warrant gone awry. Quite a few players from across the league were part of a conference call with Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer.
Brad Stevens texted all of his players Wednesday after the news broke that Louisville prosecutors have decided not to file charges directly against the two officers responsible for shooting Taylor while she lay in bed. A third has been charged with reckless endangerment for spraying bullets into neighboring apartments.
“I sent them a text midday because everyone’s got their own thing that they do during the day of the game, and I just said if you need somebody to vent to or somebody to talk to, if you want to call or get me in person at the gym, feel free,” the Celtics coach said before Game 4 against Miami last night.
“It’s — I heard Steve Kerr say this — demoralizing news,” said Stevens, cutting straight to the particulars of the case.
“The idea of just going into that apartment doesn’t make any sense,” he said. “To have 15 rounds of gunfire fired, five of which hit her, and there to be wanton endangerment, which I didn’t know existed before today, as the charge — yeah, it’s tough.
“At the end of the day there’s a call across the country, rightfully so, for more transparency, more accountability, and just a better community relationship. Obviously this feels like a setback to that, and at the same time I guess the other side is you see a lot of cities and places taking steps that should have been taken a long time ago, but at least are being taken now to make sure whether it’s meeting the initiatives that the aid can’t wait, whether it’s committing to civilian review boards, whether it’s better transparency and data, whether it’s diversifying the police force even more to match that of the neighborhood. Whatever the case may be, this doesn’t feel good today.”
It’s a boy!
Robyn Hayward went on social media to announce the birth of the fourth Hayward — and the first son to her and her husband, Gordon. Hayward has decided to remain in the bubble with the Celtics, after originally planning to be on hand for the birth. His third-degree ankle sprain in Game 1 of the first round, and the fact he was able to rehab in Indianapolis with his family, changed Hayward’s thinking.
“I think his ankle is fine right now,” said Stevens. “I don’t think he’s thought about it all afternoon, obviously. The baby arrived — I don’t know, I got word late afternoon and I’ll let Gordon and Robyn announce the rest of that. Very, very happy to hear the news. Very happy to hear that (Robyn is) doing great.”
Langford done
Romeo Langford, who was able to come back and play with torn ligaments in his right wrist, had surgery Wednesday. According to Stevens, the rookie probably won’t return until next season. Langford’s subsequent adductor strain made the decision a simple one.
“It’s going to be a long recovery from the wrist surgery,” said Stevens. “There was quite a bit of talk when it happened, like, do we just do it now? With Gordon out, the doctors all felt he was good to play, he couldn’t make it any worse, but we also knew that if something like the other day happened where he pulled the adductor, like he’s out four-to-six weeks anyway.
“There’s no sense to stick around because he needed to get that done ASAP. He’ll probably bleed into next season, whenever that starts, his availability because of the length of time it takes for that particular operation.”