Israel Adesanya Supports NBA Players During Boycott
UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya has praised the NBA players for boycotting games in a protest against police brutality. On Sunday in Kenosha, Wisconsin, an unarmed black man named Jacob Blake was shot in the back seven times by police officers – he is now paralyzed from the waist down. The incident was caught on camera and sparked a new wave of protests against racism in the United States.
The unrest found its way into mainstream sport when the Milwaukee Bucks refused to take part in a scheduled playoff game against the Orlando Magic. A number of other NBA teams followed their lead a refused to play too.
Adesanya expressed his support for the NBA players currently on strike during a recent conversation with Luke Thomas, he said.
“If the NBA walks out, if they f*ck their money up, that’s the owners’ money and the shareholders and whatever – good,” Adesanya said. “If that’s what it takes to bring change, then good. . . Whatever has to happen, man. I’m finding my own way to change the world around me, but I’m doing that in my own life, away from the media.
“I’m trying to respond, not react, because I feel like that’s what they want. They want me to react. They want us to react. They want us to point the finger – blame each other, this side vs. this side. ‘My God is better than your God. My race is better than your race. My people are better than your people.’
“Like, what the f*ck is Blue Lives Matter? You choose to be a cop. You don’t choose to be black. It’s a privilege to be black. Bottom line, I choose to respond, rather than react, so I’m taking my time because it just happened, but good on the players in the NBA for doing so. I commend them for that.” (Transcribed by MMA Fighting)
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