Curry supports protests, but will 'most likely stand' for national anthem
Stephen Curry said last week that he supports Colin Kaepernick’s ongoing refusal to stand for the singing of the national anthem before NFL games, a decision the San Francisco 49ers quarterback says he has made in protest of the oppression of black people and other people of color. But the Golden State Warriors superstar and two-time-reigning NBA Most Valuable Player said Tuesday that he doesn’t intend to follow Kaepernick’s lead by sitting or kneeling during “The Star Spangled Banner” before Warriors games this coming NBA season.
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Curry appeared Tuesday at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference in San Francisco to promote Slyce, the social media startup he co-founded, and Nothing But Nets, the nonprofit he supports aimed at reducing the risk that children and families in sub-Saharan Africa will contract malaria from disease-carrying mosquitos. During a question-and-answer session, though, the topic shifted to Kaepernick, whom Curry last week applauded “for taking a stand, and hopefully the conversation is about what his message was and not, ‘Is he going to stand or is he going to sit for the national anthem?'”
Two of Curry’s Warriors teammates followed suit, with Kevin Durant saying he backs Kaepernick because he’s “behind anyone who stands up for what they believe in” and Draymond Green supporting the other NFL players who joined Kaepernick’s protest, saying he’s “happy the conversation has been started and actions are being taken.” Asked directly if he plans to join himself once the 2016-17 NBA season begins next month, though, Curry “said he likely would not,” according to Anthony Slater of the Bay Area News Group:
“I’ll most likely stand,” Curry said. “Colin, if you follow the way he talks, the message he’s trying to send with his act, he’s not, from his mouth, disrespecting the veterans or the military. That’s not his intention. He’s obviously continued the act to create the conversation for more social justice and things of that nature. I’ve been a part of certain conversations off the grid, finding different ways to make our community better, especially for African-Americans. That’s not the way I’ll do it. But I support him in his attempt to start the conversation or continue the conversation.”
Curry seemed to sense that whichever way he went with it, there would be some criticism. Asked by the moderator how tough it is to toe that line as a highly visible star, he said it’s something he’s learned.
“You just have to be true to yourself and understand both sides of the equation and be OK with the consequences, like Colin is,” Curry said later. “My approach is not going to please everyone and that’s what America is about. Some people agree with Colin, some don’t. But the common thread is that there is change that needs to be made.”
Curry also made public his preference in the upcoming presidential election:
Steph Curry asked Hillary or Trump? Curry: "Hillary"
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) September 14, 2016
… though it seems hard to imagine he’ll have the same kind of relationship with the next residents of the White House, whoever they may be.
Kaepernick has said he intends to remain seated or kneeling during the national anthem until “there’s significant change and I feel like that flag represents what it’s supposed to represent,” a stance he echoed Monday night after the 49ers’ NFL-season-opening win over the Los Angeles Rams, according to Yahoo Sports columnist Dan Wetzel:
“I think it has become so blatantly obvious that athletes and people in general have to react,” Kaepernick said. “With social media there are so many instances where it is immediately to you. You see it day after day. For me … I couldn’t see another #sandrabland #tamirrice #walterscott #ericgarner – the list goes on and on and on. At what point do we do something about it? At what point do we take a stand and as a people say this isn’t right?
“You have a badge yes, but you are supposed to be protecting us, not murdering us,” Kaepernick said. “That is what the issue is and we need to change that.” […]
“Nothing has ever been done without criticism,” Kaepernick said. “Every great change … whether it is revolution or evolution of things, there is always criticism. There is always that ‘I don’t like change’ kind of mentality, but you have to be able to take that and say, ‘You know what? In the long run they will see what is going on, they will see what is right, and they will understand.’
“… I don’t want to kneel forever,” he said. “I want these things to change. I do know it will be a process and it is not something that will change overnight, but I think there are some major changes that we can make that are very reasonable.”
After Curry went public with his support of Kaepernick’s protest, but before he suggested he likely won’t join it before his own games, newly minted Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal expressed displeasure with the notion of not standing for the national anthem.
“I mean, to each his own. It’s something I wouldn’t do,” O’Neal said. “[Kaepernick’s] comments were there are injustices. There have always been injustices. Me, personally, I would probably go about it a different way. You know, my question is, what happened last year? How come you didn’t decide to do this last year or the year before that or the year before that?
“I don’t know Colin, but to each his own. I don’t really have a say on it, but I would never do that. My father was a military man, and he protected this country. My uncles are in law enforcement. They go out and work hard every day. Just, there are other ways to get your point across.”
That’s true. But as the weeks wear on, as more and more athletes join the effort, and as discussion about the content of Kaepernick’s critique joins debate over his method, it’s becoming more and more difficult to argue that Kaepernick’s chosen path hasn’t been very, very effective.
With NBA training camps set to open in two weeks’ time and the regular season topping off in just over a month, the question is likely not whether the predominantly black players in the country’s most progressive major sports league will participate in the protest, but rather to what extent and at what volume, according to David Steele of The Sporting News:
If there is some sense that caring about black lives is some sort of obstacle to being a good teammate — and this is where Trent Dilfer and a few others might want to start taking notes — you’re not going to see or hear about it in an NBA locker room.
The same goes for whether that keeps you from being a good American citizen with the same rights and freedoms as everybody else. That’s for you, Kate Upton.
That all should have been clear two years ago with the Clippers players and Donald Sterling. It should have been clear two months ago at the ESPYs, when four of the faces of the league, led by LeBron James, spoke on the very topic of police brutality that Kaepernick is shining a light on, even while lots of folks duck that light and try to change the subject to avoid confronting it.
It should have been clear when one of those stars, Carmelo Anthony, wrote at that time that he was less interested in unity than in fundamental change. It should have been driven home when the WNBA players got the jump on Kaepernick and everybody else in making their point. Take note of the white teammates who took their sides, by the way.
A lot less of “Let’s open a dialogue,’’ and a lot more “Fix this now.’’
That said, not all players will have the same level of comfort with public demonstrations, or believe uniformly that sitting or kneeling for the national anthem is the best way for them to protest racial inequality and police brutality in America. That doesn’t mean that those who stand disagree with the merits of the protests or don’t support those who choose to kneel; as my colleague Eric Freeman recently wrote, expecting all people who believe in a cause to sacrifice their personal well-being for it is “an extremely high bar to set for any person with a desire to do good in the world,” and while it’s entirely reasonable to laud those who have suffered personal and financial loss as a result for standing up for their beliefs, “venerating martyrs should not require us to create a world in which we make as many as possible.”
For now, at least, Curry plans not to act as publicly as Kaepernick has. How his fellow NBA stars elect to respond will bear watching in the weeks and months ahead.
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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!
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