Philadelphia 76ers forward Tobias Harris has not been one to just sit back and allow things to happen. He is a guy who will step up and say something when things don’t sit right with him.
Due to the civil unrest in the country since the killing of George Floyd while in police custody in Minnesota in late May, there has been a lot more discussion on these issues that plague the country. Harris has been a guy who has really led the way on this as he has been a voice for peace and on Monday, he pleaded for justice in the killing of Breonna Taylor by police officers in Kentucky.
With the Sixers getting back to work in Orlando and given the platform Harris and the team has, they have a plan to spread their message on these social issues. Coach Brett Brown wants the message to have a Philadelphia flavor to it.
“Tobias has embraced that type of role the second George Floyd’s murder happened,” said Brown. “He has just jumped into this racial injustice area and heightened awareness that the country is now under in a significant way. One of the things that I’ve said is I’m looking forward to going to Orlando and talking to my players about opportunities that are directly paralleled to the city of Philadelphia. Like how can you dig into Philly?”
The Sixers have always been a team that goes into a deep discussion on real issues other than basketball. Brown and general manager Elton Brand will give the players their full support for this cause.
“We have had great discussions with the team,” Brown added. “Elton Brand and I have sat down with Tobias Harris two days ago and talked about, and a lot of homework has been done, I get where we sit, we will help support the players in their initiative to figure out what does that looks like in Philadelphia.”
Harris has spoken up in the past about his own personal experiences with racial injustices and important matters such as this one. He and the team will sit down and discuss what their plan is to spread their message.
“We will, as an organization, led by the players talk about those initiatives,” Brown finished with. “Tobias’ comments are such a bigger discussion and reflection of how he thinks in general. I’m excited to talk about this more once we declare exactly what we’re doing.”
Philadelphia continues to grow together as a team as they have no choice, but to really hang out with each other. This experience inside the bubble plus their planned social justice message should do wonders for them as a team moving forward.
They don’t have a choice. They’re all in this together. [lawrence-related id=35161,35151,35142]