Defining moment
Aldridge hopes Capitol riots open eyes to racism.
Spurs forward Lamarcus Aldridge hopes the attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of President Donald Trump will serve as a “huge eye opener” for people “who don’t understand or don’t see a difference in how Black people and white people” are treated by police in America.
A mostly white mob Wednesday overwhelmed police on its way to disrupting the vote that would make Joe Biden’s election as president official.
“There were clearly enormous strategic and planning failures by the Capitol Police, by the Sergeant at Arms and anyone else who was a part of coordinating this effort,” Rep. Tim Ryan, DOhio, said during a virtual news conference Wednesday night.
After the riot, police are shown on video escorting the Trump supporters out of the Capitol rather than arresting them.
Those images stand in sharp contrast to police dressed in riot gear this past summer while confronting Black Lives Matter protesters calling for police reform in the wake of the killing of George Floyd and other unarmed African-americans.
“If that was a group of Black people going into that building, there would have been more gun fire, probably more people dead,” Aldridge said via Zoom after the Spurs beat the Lakers on Thursday in Los Angeles. “But you see videos of cops taking selfies. It’s sad that we haven’t realized how bad this is. Yesterday was a big eye opener for everyone hopefully that we are not making this up,” he said.
Five people died during the violent siege, including a woman shot by United States Capitol Police. Trump supporter Ashli Babbitt, a 35-year-old Air Force veteran from Southern California, was shot after breaching the building and attempting to enter the House chamber, police said.
A U.S. Capitol Police officer was also among the dead. Brian Sicknick, 42, was injured “while physically engaging with protesters” during the attack, the U.S. Capitol Police said in a statement.
Sicknick was hit in the head with a fire extinguisher, law enforcement officials told the Associated Press.
Repeating claims of a fraudulent election, Trump urged his supporters during a rally near the White House on Wednesday to head to Capitol Hill, where lawmakers were set to confirm Biden’s victory. Lawmakers scrambled for cover after the mob sped past police barriers, smashed windows to get inside the building and then rampaged through its hallowed halls.
Usually soft spoken and outwardly unemotional, Aldridge had a passionate tone in his voice as he discussed what Spurs coach Gregg Popovich called a “miserable example of racism.”
“It was just crazy to see that many people storming the Capitol, and people have guns drawn but don’t do anything,” Aldridge said. “But you have a Black person getting out of a car or leaving a store or doing many other things that aren’t as threatening as that and then they get shot and killed in many different ways. But then you have that yesterday, where nobody (from law enforcement) came in early, nobody reacted fast. It was very slow and very gentle.
“If you flip that and make that all Black people, that story is totally different. It’s more tragic, more of what we’ve seen before this,” Aldridge said.
Aldridge wasn’t the only player critical of the police.
“If yesterday wasn’t evidence of what we have been going through for years and years, I don’t know how else to put it,” Demar Derozan said. “It’s a perfect description of what it’s like to be Black or Brown in this country.”
Eubanks sidelined for tonight’s game
Reserve big man Drew Eubanks will miss tonight’s game against the Timberwolves in accordance with NBA health and safety protocols, according to the Spurs injury report released Friday.
The Spurs announced Thursday that Eubanks and two other members of the travel party would not be with the team at the Staples Center for the game. Afterward, Popovich indicated the three had been given COVID-19 tests and were awaiting results.
The Spurs did not disclose the results of those tests Friday.
G League to get underway in bubble
The Spurs’ developmental team, the Austin Spurs, will be one of 17 NBA G League teams that will hit the court in February at the NBA bubble in Orlando, Fla., the G League announced Friday.
The top eight teams will advance to a single-elimination playoff.
“While everyone will miss the atmosphere inside the H-E-B Center,” Spurs general manager Brian Wright said, referring to the Austin Spurs’ home in Cedar Park, “we are excited to have the opportunity to play and enjoy the continued development of our players and staff.
“Development in Austin is vital to our organization as a whole, and we look forward to everyone involved continuing to learn and grow with this new experience,” Wright added.