The Rush: With no sports to stick to, athletes mobilize over death of George Floyd

Yahoo Sports Videos

June 1, 2020 at 1:34 AM

The sports world reacts to the nationwide protests following the death of George Floyd: former NBA player Stephen Jackson made an impassioned plea in memory of his friend, Jaylen Brown of the Celtics drove through the night to lead a peaceful protest, Lonnie Walker of the Spurs helped clean his city after a night of vandalism, a former NFL executive admitted that Colin Kaepernick was blackballed for kneeling, and 49ers owner Jed York pledged $1 million to organizations that create change, leading to a Twitter feud between Torrey Smith and Eric Reid. PLUS: Marcus Smart, Serena Williams, Coco Gauff, DK Metcalf and others weigh in on history in the making.

Video Transcript

- [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]

JARED QUAY: The death of George Floyd while in Minnesota police custody has impacted the entire country. And the sports world was no exception.

STEPHEN JACKSON: Every race here, I love you. But it comes to a point now where if you love me and you're not standing on the side of me--

- Come on.

STEPHEN JACKSON: --then your love don't mean [BLEEP].

- Stay down.

- Stay down. Stay down.

JARED QUAY: That was former NBA player Stephen Jackson, a close friend of Floyd's. His thoughts were echoed by many athletes on Twitter, none more simply than LeBron. Some athletes let their actions do the talking. Celtics guard Jaylen Brown drove all through the night to lead a peaceful protest in his hometown of Atlanta.

JAYLEN BROWN: What do we want?

- Justice.

JAYLEN BROWN: When do we want it?

- Now.

JAYLEN BROWN: What do we want?

- Justice.

JAYLEN BROWN: When do we want it?

- Now.

JARED QUAY: While Spurs guard Lonnie Walker helped clean up San Antonio after things got a little out of control. The NFL's response was a little less inspiring. Roger Goodell released a memo saying, "There remains an urgent need for action." Better than nothing.

Meanwhile, 49ers owner Jed York is donating a million dollars to organizations that create change, which sounds good. But Eric Greene and Torrey Smith still managed to beef about it on Twitter. See, Torrey said that York said it was OK to kneel. But Eric Reid says he was begged not to.

And while we're talking kneeling, Colin Kaepernick started a legal defense fund for arrested protesters. That's on the same weekend that a former NFL exec admitted that it wasn't salary demands our lack of skills that ended Colin Kaepernick's playing career. It was the kneeling after all. Kap isn't the first athlete to make an impact off the field.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

And he certainly won't be the last. We'll leave you with what some of today's athletes are saying in their own words. Stay safe out there.

DK METCALF: I have family, friends, and brothers that look like George Floyd.

MARCUS SMART: We wanted to come out here and let our voice be heard because we stand for the truth. And we stand for justice. And we won't stop until we get justice.

SETH TOWNS: In a span of just 24 hours, I walked from a Harvard virtual graduation stage to the back of a police van, both of which I am equally proud of.

MALCOLM BROGDON: In fact, our kids are going to look back at this and say, you were a part of that. I've got a grandfather that marched next to Dr. King in the '60s. And he was amazing. He would be proud to see us all here.

- And our hands up.

[MUSIC - JOHN LEGEND WITH COMMON, "GLORY"]

(SINGING) One day, when the glory comes.

- [INAUDIBLE]

[MUSIC PLAYING]

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