Page 24 - Florida Sentinel 7-29-16 Online Edition

Sports
Michael Jordan Speaks Up For
Amar'e Stoudemire Retires After 14 Seasons; Does So As A Knick
Black Lives And Police Officers
Amar’e Stoudemire is hanging up his Nikes. Tues- day, (July 26), the 6-time NBA All-Star announced that he is retiring as a New York Knick after signing with the team.
When Stoudemire joined the team in 2010, the Lake Wales, FL native became the first Knick to be voted a starter in the NBA All-Star Game since Patrick Ewing (1997) by garnering over 1.6 million fan votes.
At the conclusion of the 2010-11 season, the NBA an- nounced that Stoudemire’s
Michael Jordan is con- demning violence against both African-Americans and police. His forceful and emotional statement, released by ESPN's The Undefeated, is a marked change for the NBA legend.
Jordan has been famously apolitical during his career — first as a Hall of Fame basket- ball player for the Chicago Bulls and more recently as an owner of the Charlotte Hornets — avoiding public statements on politics and civil rights, when other athletes have spo- ken out.
"I can no longer stay silent," Jordan writes. "We need to find solutions that ensure peo- ple of color receive fair and equal treatment AND that po- lice officers — who put their lives on the line every day to protect us all — are respected and supported."
The statement comes after the recent police shootings of two African-American men, Alton Sterling and Phi- lando Castile, and two deadly attacks against police officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge.
"I know this country is bet- ter than that," Jordan writes. Jordan says he's making
$1 million donations to two or- ganizations, the NAACP Legal
MICHAEL JORDAN
Defense Fund and the Institute for Community-Police Rela- tions, which was recently es- tablished by the International Association of Chiefs of Police. The aim, Jordan writes, is to help "build trust and respect between communities and law enforcement."
The donations come during a period of renewed advocacy and statements about social is- sues by professional athletes and sports leagues.
Current NBA stars LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade and Chris Paul opened the 2016 ESPYs, earlier this month, by asking professional athletes to speak up on issues of social justice and to help unite communities in the U.S.
WNBA players have spoken out, too, wearing solid black shirts during warm-ups, or shirts with the printed words "#BlackLivesMatter" and "#Dallas5," in reference to the
five police officers who were killed in Dallas earlier this month.
Most recently, the NBA an- nounced that it was stripping Charlotte, N.C., of the 2017 NBA All-Star Game because of North Carolina's House Bill 2 — the so-called bathroom bill — which has been called dis- criminatory against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
In making that announce- ment, the league stated: "While we recognize that the NBA can- not choose the law in every city, state, and country in which we do business, we do not believe we can successfully host our All-Star festivities in Charlotte in the climate created by HB2."
Cavaliers, Coach Tyronn Lue Agree On 5-Year Contract Extension
TYRONE LUE
The Cleveland Cavaliers and coach Tyronn Lue have reached an agreement.
The team announced the contract Tuesday, referring to the deal as a multiyear agree- ment. The contract is a five-year extension with the first four years fully guaranteed. The fifth year is a team option.The deal is worth $35 million.
Lue did not sign a new con- tract when he was promoted from associate head coach to take over for David Blatt in January.
Lue led Cleveland to a 27-14 mark in the second half of the season and through the playoffs to the NBA championship.
AMAR'E STOUDEMIRE
No. 1 jersey had risen to fourth place on the NBA’s list of most popular jerseys list.
Carmelo Anthony: 'Brilliant'
WNBA Rescinds Fines Imposed On Players That Showed Support For Police Violence Victims
Members of the New York Liberty, Phoenix Mercury and Indiana Fever teams were fined.
And 'About Time' For Michael
Reversing course, the WNBA says it is rescinding re- cent fines imposed on teams and players for wearing black t-shirts in support of the vic- tims of recent shootings.
"All of us at the WNBA have the utmost respect and appreciation for our players expressing themselves on matters important to them," WNBA President Lisa Bor- ders said in a statement.
The fines applied to the In- diana Fever, New York Lib- erty, Phoenix Mercury and their players.
As the Associated Press re- ported, the black warmup
shirts were a uniform viola- tion, and "the players started wearing them to show solidar- ity after shootings in Min- nesota and Baton Rouge, Louisiana."
According to the wire serv- ice, "Each team was fined $5,000 and players were each given a $500 penalty because WNBA rules stated that uni- forms may not be altered in any way. The normal fine for uniform violations is $200."
Players continued to wear the black shirts after the fines were announced. Among the most vocal is New York Lib- erty forward Tina Charles.
Jordan To Talk Social Issues
Carmelo Anthony praised Michael Jordan for speaking out Monday on the country's growing racial and so- cial unrest while also saying it was "about time" Jordan stepped up and took a stance and "put his money where his mouth is at" with two grants of $1 million each to two organiza- tions working to build trust be- tween the police and their communities.
"I thought it was brilliant and about time that he stepped up and said what he said," An- thony said later Monday after a meeting with community leaders in Los Angeles. "At the end of the day, amongst us, he is our face. He is an African- American and a very powerful African-American, so for him to step up in the midst of these times right now, it was very big on his behalf. It's not always about the money, but for him to step up and put his money where his mouth is at, the tim- ing was perfect."
On Monday, Anthony, along with Tamika Catch- ings and other members of USA Basketball men's and women's national teams, met with community leaders at the Challengers Boys & Girls Club in Los Angeles for two hours in what was billed as "Leadership Together: A Conversation with Our Sons & Daughters." About 200 people were in attendance,
CARMELO ANTHONY
including Deputy Chief William Scott of the Los An- geles Police Department; Calvin Lyons, the president and CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Los Angeles; and Charisse Bremond- Weaver, the president of the Brotherhood Crusade.
"We had a bunch of youth and a bunch of police officers and bunch of community lead- ers of all races and ethnicities, and it was an open forum and an open dialogue and an honest conversation," Anthony said.
"We came together as one big group first and we discussed some things, and then we broke down into eight small groups, and each group had athletes, of- ficers and community leaders. We just talked about the issues that are going on out there today, and we talked about so- lutions. Now, there were a lot of solutions going on out there today, but we know that noth- ing is going to happen overnight. But what we wanted to do was create something that we can start right now and con- tinue when we leave here."
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