ORLANDO, Fla. — At least nine San Antonio Spurs players in the Disney bubble will step onto a court that says "Black Lives Matter," and with a message on their backs as well.
Players chose from a pre-approved list of messages that the NBA sent out as the league worked with players to keep focus on systemic racism and police brutality in the wake of the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others.
The meaningful games will begin on Thursday, but the Spurs first seeding game will be Friday against the Sacramento Kings.
The list was revealed during a broadcast of the team's final scrimmage on Tuesday, a 118-111 win over Indiana.
- Lonnie Walker IV: "Black Lives Matter
- Keldon Johnson: "Justice"
- Derrick White: "Enough"
- Bryn Forbes: "Equality"
- Drew Eubanks: "Justice"
- Quinndary Weatherspoon: "I Can't Breathe"
- Marco Belinelli: "Uguaglianza"
- Luka Samanic: "Freedom"
- Jakob Poeltl: "Black Lives Matter"
- Rudy Gay: "Justice"
- DeMar DeRozan: "Education Reform"
- Trey Lyles (out due to appendicitis): "Antiracist"
DeRozan explained why he chose "Education Reform" in a call with media members on Wednesday.
"I realized a lot of my knowledge that I gained, I didn't get that understanding through school," DeRozan said. "School kinda sets the foundation of helping kids comprehend and understand what's really going on in the world, in the future and in the past."
"So much is left out," he continued. "Just now, me understanding my history in a whole different light being 30 years old, was something I wish I would've learned when I was younger."