Belinelli visits the Vatican
Spurs guard, four others speak with Pope Francis on social justice efforts
Spurs guard Marco Belinelli was among an NBA contingent to meet with Pope Francis on Monday at the Vatican. The purpose of the visit was to discuss the league’s social justice efforts, which reached a crescendo during the NBA restart games in Orlando. Fla., earlier this year.
Kyle Korver, Sterling Brown, Anthony Tolliver and Jonathan Isaac were the other players involved at the meeting, which came after the Vatican reached out to the National Basketball Players Association two weeks ago.
The audience was held days before a book comes out in which Pope Francis supports demands for racial justice, specifically the actions taken following the killing of George Floyd, a Black man who died in May. A police officer in Minneapolis pressed a knee against his neck for minutes while Floyd said he couldn’t breathe.
In June, Pope Francis commented on the social unrest and protests in the wake of the Floyd killing, calling it a matter of “great concern.”
“We cannot tolerate or turn a blind eye to racism and exclusion in any form and yet claim to defend the sacredness of every human life,” the pope said at the time.
The visit lasted about 30 minutes, with the Pope speaking to the players about the power of sports to affect change, according to a New York Times report.
“You’re champions,” Pope Francis said. “But also giving the example of teamwork, you’ve become a model, giving that good example of teamwork but always remaining humble … and preserving your own humanity.“
Belinelli addressed the pope in Italian, and the group presented the pope with gifts such as a commemorative basketball, a union-produced book highlighting efforts players have taken and an Orlando Magic jersey.
Brown, in his remarks to the pope, told him about what he and the Milwaukee Bucks went through in the NBA’s restart bubble — particularly when they decided to sit out a playoff game against Orlando in response to the shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, by police in Kenosha, Wisc.
“This visit is the kind of thing that gives you, I believe, the sense of confirmation that the work that you’re doing is making a difference,” NBPA executive director Michele Roberts told the New York Times. “The confirmation comes from someone who’s life is spent giving of himself to others, saying what you’re doing is exactly what you should be doing and I encourage you to keep doing it.”
All of the players involved in the Vatican meeting are active in the players association. It was a quick trip, with NBA training camps set to begin Dec. 1. Isaac, a rising star with the Orlando Magic, took a break from rehabilitating an ACL tear to attend.
Belinelli, 34, was the only native Italian in the group. A 14-year NBA veteran, Belinelli is an unrestricted free agent. He is not expected to return to the Spurs.