San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Supporting BLM, but standing for anthem
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Meyers Leonard has a brother who served two tours in Afghanistan with the U.S. Marines. He carries a military-themed backpack, wears combat boots and has a phone loaded with Navy SEALs who are his friends.
He also makes this clear: “I absolutely believe Black lives matter,” he said.
So does San Antonio Spurs head coach Greg Popovich and assistant coach Becky Hammon, and Orlando Magic forward Jonathan Isaac.
Still, none of them could bring themselves to kneel for the national anthem.
On Saturday, Leonard was the latest. Wearing a Black Lives Matter Tshirt over a jersey that he ordered to say “Equality,” and as all other coaches and players around him knelt, Leonard stood for the playing of “The StarSpangled Banner” before the Heat reopened their season by facing the Denver Nuggets at Walt Disney World.
“Some of the conversations I’ve had over the past three days, quite literally, have been the most difficult,” Leonard said. “I am with the Black Lives Matter movement and I love and support the military and my brother and the people who have fought to defend our rights in this country.”
Isaac, who is Black and an ordained minister, was the first to stand, before a win over the Brooklyn Nets in an afternoon game Friday. He stood with his hands behind his back, praying silently as the song played.
“Kneeling while wearing a Black Lives Matter Tshirt doesn’t go handinhand with supporting Black lives,” Isaac said.
Later that night, Popovich — a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, and coach of USA Basketball’s national team — stood with his arms at his sides before the Spurs played Sacramento.
Hammon, one of Popovich’s assistant coaches, also stood. She draped one arm over the shoulders of Spurs assistant Will Hardy, kneeling to her right, and the other over San Antonio guard Patty Mills, kneeling to her left. Popovich and Hammon both wore “Black Lives Matter” Tshirts, as almost all players and coaches have for warmups and the anthem.
Popovich talked at length after the game about the importance of keeping the focus on racial injustice and inequality, but did not explain why he chose not to kneel.
“I’d prefer to keep that to myself,” said Popovich, when asked what went into his decision. “Everybody has to make a personal decision. The league’s been great about that; everybody has the freedom to react any way they want. For whatever reasons I have, I reacted the way I wanted to.”
Hammon was not made available to the media, but Spurs guard DeMar DeRozan said the team supported Popovich and Hammon.
“It’s all out of a positive side of their hearts,” DeRozan said. “Same way we kneel. Don’t take away nothing from those guys. Pop speaks up. When it comes to Becky, she’s there on the front line fighting for equality.”
Leonard, who is white, said he dealt with anxiety and sleeplessness for several days as he agonized over the decision. He explained his reasoning before Saturday to current teammates and several former ones, almost all of them Black — then stood near midcourt, hand over his heart, as the song blared.
“I am a compassionate human being and I truly love all people,” Leonard said. “I can’t fully comprehend how our world, literally and figuratively, has turned into Black and white. There’s a line in the sand, so to speak: ‘If you’re not kneeling, you’re not with us.’ And that’s not true.
“I will continue to use my platform, my voice and my actions to show how much I care about the African American culture and for everyone. I live my life to serve and impact others in a positive way.”
Leonard raised $180,000 in April for causes such as Feeding South Florida. And Saturday, Leonard said he and his wife will donate $100,000 to a fund that helps pay the fees Floridians leaving jails or prisons must settle before they can have their voting rights restored.
The focus of this restarted NBA season, interrupted for more than 41⁄2 months by the coronavirus pandemic, has been to continue shining light on the need for racial justice and an end to police brutality. NBA teams are kneeling, often linking arms, for the prerecorded national anthem along a sideline where “Black Lives Matter” is painted.
Heat forward Andre Iguodala, a member of the National Basketball Players Association’s executive committee, said he respected Leonard’s choice.
“On the one hand, we’re saying, ‘We want you to see things from our perspective,’ ” the former Warriors forward said. “But by saying that, I also have to see things from his perspective. And I can see where he’s coming from.”