Magic support NFL players’ protests but seek unity, as well
As the Orlando Magic came together Monday for the first time since last season, there was more than basketball on the minds of players and team officials.
President Donald Trump’s criticism of NFL players kneeling during the national anthem — and his un-inviting of Stephen Curry and the NBA champion Golden State Warriors to the White House — changed the tone of the Magic’s media day at Amway Center.
The off-the-court events are moving so fast, the team hasn’t had a chance to come together and discuss it all, said Jeff Weltman, the Magic’s new president of basketball operations.
“A season ago … Colin Kaeper-
nick — one player — took a knee during the national anthem. Yesterday, 250 [NFL] players took a knee during the national anthem. Three teams didn’t come out of their locker room,” Weltman said. “The landscape is clearly changing; the ground is moving as we stand on it.”
Kaepernick started kneeling as a way to draw attention to police violence against African-Americans. While Kaepernick is no longer in the NFL, other players in and outside the league have joined his protest. Some fans are sympathetic to the protests, but others — including Trump — see them as disrespectful and would prefer athletes stick to sports.
Weltman said the Magic don’t plan to tell their players what they should or should not do, but they will talk about it.
“We won’t tell them anything,” he said. “We’ll listen and our hope is that the results of the conversations are all guided towards inclusion, towards healing, towards taking advantage of the platform that we all are given and doing some good with it.”
Even without a team discussion, the Magic’s players are aligned in their support of expressing opinions — and in their calls for unity for a divided nation.
“As athletes, we all have a great platform to get our voice out there, especially for the people who are not as fortunate as us to speak up on some things they are going through,” Magic swingman Terrence Ross said. “We just need to have more love and understanding and not so much criticizing this and that. … We have to find a way to come together to find understanding and to kind of take some of that tension away.”
Magic forward Aaron Gordon said he supports the underlying meaning of the NFL player protests.
“... They want to have a voice; they understand that we’re worth more as a human,” he said. “It’s just a way to say, ‘look we can do this in a peaceful way but something needs to be discussed.’ ”
Magic rookie Jonathan Isaac, who was the team’s top draft pick out of Florida State, called the protests “beautiful.”
“I think every athlete should believe in something and not be afraid to speak on it,” Isaac said. He also said he thinks the NBA will follow the NFL’s lead and be more vocal on political issues.
“I think every league is going to be, I think every league has to be, because every league has athletes that are African-American or that come from a different background, and I think they have to say something about it,” Isaac said.
Several Magic players expressed hope for change beyond kneeling protests and suggested working closer to home on important issues.
“... I’m more about trying to change in communities,” guard Elfrid Payton said. “Don’t take away from what they’re doing; I’m all for that, like I said. But I’m more about getting out there and trying to change outside of gametime.”
Magic center Bismack Biyombo, who is from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is also hoping something positive outcomes from the player protests.
“How can we use our voice to bring people together? How can we transform this negativity, this hating into love and joy that people want to be around each other?” he asked.
Biyombo spent part of his off-season building a school for children in his native country, and he used that as opportunity to show how to bridge divisions.
“That’s why I do my school — because I believe in unifying people. Either you’re poor or you’re rich — you’re going to be going to my school. I want you to come to my school. I want you to understand how you guys can work together,” he said.
“If I’ve done that in the Congo, and so far it’s working, I think it’s doable in the whole nation like the U.S. Plus, you guys are the United States — so why not continue to stay united?”
While politics was the hot topic of the day, Ross showed it wasn’t the only focus.
He had a quick answer when asked if the Magic won the NBA championship, would he decline to go to the White House to meet with Trump — as Curry considered before being un-invited.
“Let’s win a championship first, and then we’ll talk about that next,” Ross said. “Got to win that championship first.
“I guarantee you no one’s going to think about nothing else. We’ve got to get that championship first.”