Prior to the start of Friday’s game between the Brooklyn Nets and Orlando Magic, the two teams worked as one.
Aside from Orlando’s Jonathan Isaac, every player and coach on both teams went down to one knee together during the playing of the National Anthem to protest brutality and support the Black Lives Matter movement.
Additionally, each member of Brooklyn’s roster has a social justice message on the backs of their uniforms, with the hope of maintaining the momentum that the ongoing movement in the United States has as the NBA resumes the 2019-20 season at Disney World.
Among those who’ve spoken about the matter with other players is Nets wing Garrett Temple. After Brooklyn’s 128-118 loss on Friday, he told reporters on a Zoom call that the moment pregame was a very emotional one for him, per Brian Lewis of the New York Post:
It almost brought me to tears. It meant a great deal for me with the background I’ve had, where I come from, what I believe in, what I think the platform allows us to do. It’s very powerful.
Conversely, Isaac expressed why he didn’t kneel after the game to reporters:
I asked Jonathan Isaac two questions:
You didn’t kneel during the anthem but you also didn’t wear a black lives matter shirt. Do you believe black lives matter?
Can you explain what religion has to do with kneeling for the anthem to protest against racism and police brutality? pic.twitter.com/me61FleWPY
— Taylor Rooks (@TaylorRooks) July 31, 2020
Brooklyn gets back to work on Sunday at 2 p.m. against the Washington Wizards.