Wade, Meyers Leonard and more players with Heat ties outraged over George Floyd’s death
Dwyane Wade, Meyers Leonard as well as several other current and former Miami Heat players have used social media to express their anger over the death of George Floyd.
Wade tweeted “Justice will not be served until those unaffected are as outraged as those who are” in all caps on Wednesday. Less than 20 hours later, he took to Instagram to share the famous photo of himself, LeBron James, Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony during their powerful speech about social activism at the 2016 ESPYs.
Leonard later became the first white Heat player to speak out, decrying his privilege in a tweet.
“I’ve become [at times] embarrassed to be a white privileged male in this country,” he wrote on Thursday. “The [expletive] hatred and racism has GOT TO STOP. I just don’t understand. I was raised to love all people. RIP George Floyd and many others.”
Udonis Haslem and Ray Allen also used their platforms to call out racial injustice.
Outrage about Floyd’s death has steadily increased since the video of a white officer, later identified as Derek Chauvin, kneeling on his neck hit the internet on Tuesday. The footage shows the 46-year-old repeatedly groaning and pleading for air before going motionless.
“Please, please, please, I can’t breathe,” Floyd begged. “My stomach hurts. My neck hurts. Please, please. I can’t breathe.”
Police said Tuesday that the incident began when Floyd “physically resisted officers” who tried to detain him after suspecting his involvement in a forgery. Their statement indicates he sustained an ultimately fatal “medical distress” while handcuffed yet fails to provide any additional details.
The four responding officers have since been fired.
