While much of the basketball world’s attention may be fixed on last week’s free-agent frenzy, players haven’t lost sight of the social issues that prompted them to bring the league to a standstill over the summer.
On Monday, a delegation from the National Basketball Player Association — consisting of Marco Belinelli, Sterling Brown, Jonathan Isaac, Kyle Korver and Anthony Tolliver — met with Pope Francis at the Vatican to discuss efforts to address social and economic injustice and inequality in their communities.
“We are extremely honoured to have had this opportunity to come to the Vatican and share our experiences with Pope Francis,” said Korver in a press release.
“His openness and eagerness to discuss these issues was inspiring and a reminder that our work has had a global impact and must continue moving forward.”
Korver has been outspoken in his desire to help fight anti-Black racism and was part of the Milwaukee Bucks team that sat out a post-season game to protest the shooting of Jacob Blake by police in Kenosha, Wis., prompting strikes in solidarity across the NBA and other major sports leagues.
Earlier this month, Brown, who was also on that Bucks team but has since signed with the Houston Rockets, agreed to a $750,000 settlement of a lawsuit filed against Milwaukee police after getting taken to the ground, shocked with a Taser and arrested during a 2018 encounter.
Pope Francis, who has gained a reputation for being progressive and modernizing the Vatican, spoke out after the death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer in May, saying, “We cannot tolerate or turn a blind eye to racism and exclusion in any form and yet claim to defend the sacredness of every human life.”
