The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
TAKING A STAND
Wes Matthews Sr. proud of NBA star son standing up for Jacob Blake
Wes Matthews had a feeling something was going to happen.
He had a feeling the Milwaukee Bucks, for whom his son Wesley is a starting guard, were going to somehow protest the shooting of Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man shot seven times in the back by police on Sunday in Kenosha, Wis.
“We had talked (Tuesday) night,” Matthews Sr. said. “I kind of felt they were gonna take the stance. Even though the Celtics and the
Raptors had already had conversations about it, I kind of felt the Bucks were gonna do something very, very, very powerful. And they did exactly that.”
Indeed, the Bucks boycotted their scheduled playoff game against the Orlando Magic in the NBA bubble on Wednesday night, kicking off a chain reaction throughout sports. All three NBA playoff games as well as all WNBA games and a few Major League Baseball games were canceled as players protested.
“We’ve been talking all day,” Matthews Sr., 61, told Hearst Connecticut Media on Wednesday night. “I told him I’m super proud of him, I’m glad he’s taking a stand.”
Matthews Sr., the Bridgeport product and former Harding High star, played nine seasons in the NBA and won titles with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1987 and 1988. He is proud not only of the stand his son has taken, but of what the entire league has done since the Blake video surfaced.
Blake has survived, but is reportedly paralyzed from the waist down. Protests have erupted in Kenosha, which is about 40 minutes south of Milwaukee, and around the country since the video went viral.
“I stand by them all,” Matthews Sr. said. “I stand by what they’re fighting for, I stand for equality, I stand (against) injustice, police brutality. I mean, enough is enough. That’s all they’ve ever been saying. That’s all (Colin) Kaepernick ever said. We’ve got to sit down at the table and eat. There shouldn’t be a divided America. It should be one nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all. Whatever happened to that?”
He continued: “The fan loses out, but at the end of the day, they’re human beings, they’ve got to go back to their communities and live ... We’ve all been pulled over — African-Americans, Hispanics, and even whites have been pulled over and have injustices done to them. It’s just time for everybody to get to the table, man, and talk about supper. That’s all Kaepernick ever said. He was just bringing light to it.
“It takes shutting something down just for you to listen? This has been happening
for 400 years, unfortunately. But now, it’s 2020 and they’ve got cell phones, video coverage, so it’s not hidden and can no longer be swept under the rug.”
Wesley Matthews is in his 11th NBA season and first with the Bucks. He attended Madison Memorial High and Marquette University, both in Wisconsin, so he has deep ties to the state. During the continuation of the NBA season in the Orlando bubble, players have been allowed to wear social justice messages on the back of their uniforms.
Matthews’ jersey simply says “Vote.” “Get out and vote!,” his dad echoed. “That’s the issue that will settle everything. That’s the beginning. He’s got to do what he’s got to do for the city of Milwaukee and everybody else.”
Matthews didn’t tell his father how long the NBA boycott might last.
“He didn’t say anything of that nature,” Matthews Sr. said. “He just said ‘We’ve got to do what’s best for the country and the city and the people of the state of Wisconsin.’ He bleeds Wisconsin, because that’s where he was raised. It’s very close to him in that sense.”
But Matthews Sr. believes this could last a while.
“You can almost see this being shut down until they sit down with the people,” he said. “It’s bigger than basketball, it’s bigger than baseball, it’s bigger than all sports.”
Matthews Sr. recently resigned from his job as head girls basketball coach at Greenwich Academy. He is now doing some personal training in the Bridgeport area.
He has strong feelings about the Blake shooting.
“You can’t shoot a man seven times in the back, with his kids in the car, and then say you feared for your life,” he said. “You shot him in the back, bro. I empathize with the police, their jobs are hard, as well. But common sense, man. You don’t shoot a man in the back. If I shot somebody, I’m going straight to jail. I’m not going home. If I shot somebody, I’m not going on administrative leave. Enough is enough, that’s all they’re saying.”
“We’ve got to get back to the basics, man,” he added. “It’s a crazy world we’re living in.”