Cash calls for understanding by Minneapolis police
When the Minneapolis Police Federation president took a jab at the Minnesota Lynx’s “pathetic” fan draw while defending four police officers’ decision to leave the game after Lynx players wore Tshirts supporting Black Lives Matter, veteran player Swin Cash had one question: What do the police officers think about the players they’re supposed to be protecting?
“I would be a little bit curious to know, would you still be (saying something like that) when you’re protecting me and being at the game as far as the team is trusting you to be at the game and protecting the players,” said the New York Liberty’s Cash, the first vice president of the Women’s National Basketball Players Association.
“You wonder if there are more underlying issues — you hope not, and you hope the Lynx organization and the players will be able to sort those things out.”
Minneapolis Police Federation President Bob Kroll was clarifying a report about how many officers had walked out of the team’s game Saturday when he remarked to the Minneapolis Star
Tribune on Tuesday, “They only have four officers working the event because the Lynx have such a pathetic draw.”
The team’s T-shirts said “Change Starts With Us — Justice and Accountability” on the front and had the names of two black men fatally shot by police this month on the back, along with the phrase “Black Lives Matter.” The back of the shirt also featured the emblem of the Dallas Police Department.
Cash said Kroll’s comments highlighted the need for more communication.
“To have women that have played at the highest level, basi- cally to insult not only them but their fans — which Minnesota has an unbelievable fan base there — that probably said more about them than the Lynx players,” Cash said. “Also I think him, by making those comments, that’s exactly why the players are asking for more dialogue and to have more conversations.”
Cash said players across the league had been discussing what more they wanted to do. She made a point to say that included mourning the officers who lost their lives.
“One of the key things that was really missing was both the Liberty and the Lynx paid respect to the brave officers in Dallas,” she said. “You can be able to grieve but still feel like a part of the population that needs to be treated in a better way.”