Team meets with OC sheriff
Magic will continue their 1st-round series vs. Bucks on Saturday
The Orlando Magic will resume their playoff series with the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday, a day after continuing their work addressing racial inequality in Central Florida.
The Magic met with Orange County Sheriff John Mina via Zoom Friday afternoon to discuss policing in the community, according to a team official.
The meeting came amid protests and outrage in Central Florida after Orange County sheriff ’s deputies shot and killed Salaythis Melvin.
Deputies sought to arrest Vanshawn Sands on an outstanding warrant by swarming a parking lot at the Florida Mall on Aug. 7 as Sands and three friends exited Dick’s Sporting Goods. Sands surrendered, but 22-year-old Melvin took off running — and was fatally shot by Deputy James Montiel.
The Sheriff’s Office has declined to answer further questions about Melvin’s shooting and the events leading up to it, citing pending litigation, as Melvin’s family has threatened to sue the agency.
Magic coach Steve Clifford didn’t want to provide specifics about what was discussed during Friday’s call, but he said the meeting was worthwhile.
Clifford said the call is one of many the team plans to have with leaders of grassroots organizations in the area as it continues to seek out ways to create what he called “positive, sustainable change.”
“We are going to be working with a number of people in the community in different areas, and today was one of those calls,” Clifford said. “It was productive and I think the players
“I think that this pause was good for everybody to kind of settle down, get their emotions out and be able to move forward. ... I think guys were able to get themselves together, gather their thoughts and they’ll be ready to go.”
— Nikola Vucevic, Magic center
got a lot out of it, and like I said we’ll be doing more of that in the future.”
Magic guard Michael Carter-Williams has been vocal and proactive in his support for social justice reform. He continues to call for change on social media and he marched during a peaceful protest in Orlando before entering the NBA bubble. Carter-Williams said the Magic had concerns about the shooting of Melvin and wanted the opportunity to ask Mina questions.
Carter-Williams did not provide many details about the conversation. He said while he understands Mina is in an “interesting position,” he was dissatisfied with some of the sheriff’s answers.
“We asked him about the body cams. We asked him about the racial slurs that were used in the video [of the shooting]. We asked him about policies in general. We asked what we can do to change,” Carter-Williams said. “Personally, I wasn’t thrilled with some of the answers that he gave us, but at the end of the day, he’s doing his job.”
An Orange County sheriff’s deputy did not use a racial epithet while helping complete CPR on Melvin, an internal investigation determined. But other aspects of video of the shooting inspired protests.
“It’s tough for me to speak on, if I’m being honest,” Carter-Williams said. “I’m unhappy with how things are going and how things are handled. I know there’s lot of people that are unhappy. A lot of the questions that I wanted to ask, I just felt that we necessarily weren’t given the truth and that’s what we want to seek. We want to seek justice. We want to seek the truth. Not to say that the man’s a liar. His answers that he gave us and how we interpreted them hit home for us and we don’t appreciate it. But at the same time, we want to move forward, and not to move forward from what happened, but we want to move forward in a way where we can make the world better.
“So we’re in a sticky situation. We can go back and forth or we can say, ’ What can we do to make this better? What can we do to eliminate what’s going on? How can we eliminate the confusion of a Black kid getting shot for a reason that he shouldn’t have got shot for or killed for or mistreated, or whatever? How can we eliminate that and it’s not an easy answer?’”
Carter-Williams also commended Mina for taking the time to speak with the Magic and expects the dialogue to continue with the sheriff.
“This is not going to be the last conversation that we have with the sheriff. He’s not been reluctant to speak to us. I respect him so much for that, being able to hear us and hear our frustration,” Carter-Williams said. “I can say that he was on the call trying to figure out resolutions to this and actually work with us and we don’t always get the chance to do that. As frustrated as we are with the people that did this, there’s got to be some communication so we can come up with a solution.”
Meanwhile, the league announced Friday that playoff games will resume on Saturday, with the Magic and the Bucks being the first contest of the day. The teams will play Game 5 of their series at 3:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on Fox Sports Florida and ESPN.
Orlando is facing a mustwin situation, trailing Milwaukee 3-1 in the best-ofseven series.
Clifford said the Magic did a lot of shooting and no-contact work during Friday’s practice — a common approach during the playoffs — as they try to regroup after an emotional few days.
“I think that this pause was good for everybody to kind of settle down, get their emotions out and be able to move forward,” Magic center Nikola Vucevic said. “I think guys were able to get themselves together, gather their thoughts and they’ll be ready to go.
“I think we’re all excited to come back and play tomorrow and finish this season out and hopefully we can continue the series.”
Two more Game 5 matchups will follow the Magic and Bucks, with the Rockets facing the Thunder at 6:30 and the Lakers taking on the Trail Blazers at 9.
Sunday’s schedule will have the Raptors and Celtics facing off at 1:30 p.m., the Clippers and Mavericks playing at 3:30 and the Jazz and Nuggets squaring off at 8:30.
The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association released a joint statement to announce the playoffs would resume Saturday. They pledged to work together to form a social justice coalition, convert arenas — where possible — into safe in-person voting locations for the 2020 general election and utilize advertising segments during each playoff game to promote civic engagement and raise awareness about voter access.