Heat takes knee during anthem, except Leonard. And Butler plays with last name on jersey
Coach Erik Spoelstra said in June that “the Miami Heat are all in on this fight” against systemic racism, social injustice and police brutality. It didn’t take long for the organization to put those words into action.
The Heat has issued a social justice pledge that’s already being executed, held a powerful virtual town hall involving players and coaches, and has repeatedly made it known as an organization that it supports the “Black Lives Matter” movement.
The Heat made another statement Saturday afternoon, uniting as a team to kneel during the national anthem before formally resuming its season with a 125-105 win over the Denver Nuggets at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista. With players wearing shirts that had “Black Lives Matter” printed on the front, every Heat coach and 16 of its 17 players along with Nuggets players and coaches knelt behind the words “Black Lives Matter” on the court during the playing of the national anthem at HP Field House.
Center Meyers Leonard was the lone Heat player to remain standing for the anthem with his hand on his heart, as he wore the “Black Lives Matter” shirt and kneeling teammates on each side wrapped their arm around his leg as a sign of support. Leonard has said in the past that he’s an avid admirer of Navy Seals and has a brother who was in the military.
In a series of tweets following Saturday’s game, Leonard explained his decision to stand for the anthem: “Today, I listened to my heart. I felt an overwhelming amount of emotion as I stood there during the National Anthem. My brother, and many close friends have sworn to protect this country at all costs, and that means something to me, as does the flag and our nation. The Black Lives Matter movement also means a hell of a lot to me. What has been and continues to go on in our country is inexcusable and flat out wrong. I will continue to use my voice, my platform and my family’s resources to commit to helping make a change. I’m incredibly thankful for the love and support from my teammates, the Miami Heat organization, my family, and friends who know me. They know my heart and where I stand. I’ll leave you with this - it’s OKAY to be BOTH. I can stand proud in my beliefs and also support BLM.”
Of Leonard’s decision to stand for the anthem, Spoelstra said Leonard “has the backing of everybody in the locker room.”
“Everybody knows where his heart is and he’s fully behind this movement, just like everybody else in our organization and this association,” Spoelstra said following the Heat’s win over the Nuggets. “This is not a political discussion. This is not an either, or discussion. This is an and discussion. This is about fighting for basic human rights and equality, and I truly do feel it’s an and proposition. He wanted to peacefully protest and support this cause, and honor the flag and how he respects that. We had a great team meeting about it, and everybody expressed their support for him. It took a lot of courage to do that. But that’s why he is who he is. He has such an incredible heart.”
Other NBA teams have taken a similar approach to the national anthem since the season resumed on Thursday. Players and coaches from the four teams — the Utah Jazz, New Orleans Pelicans, Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers — that opened the restart Thursday night knelt behind the words “Black Lives Matter” on the court as the anthem played before the game.
The NBA has a rule that dates back to the early 1980s stating that players, coaches and trainers “must stand and line up in a dignified posture along the foul lines during the playing of the American and/or Canadian national anthems.” But NBA commissioner Adam Silver announced Thursday that the policy will not be enforced as teams use the restart as a platform to speak out against systemic racism and social injustice.
“I respect our teams’ unified act of peaceful protest for social justice and under these unique circumstances will not enforce our long-standing rule requiring standing during the playing of our national anthem,” Silver said in a statement.
In recent seasons, Heat coaches and players have locked arms during the playing of the national anthem as their way of taking a stand against social and racial injustice. But the Heat decided that wasn’t enough this time, kneeling Saturday to continue to call attention to social justice issues — foremost among them, police brutality following the deaths of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and others in recent months
“Everybody is fully committed to the Black Lives Matter movement,” Spoelstra said before Saturday’s game. “We respect how each individual wants to express their protest. But make no mistake about it, everybody is protesting and it is not a political discussion. This is really just about basic human rights. We’ve had some really impactful poignant conversations that have been very educational. These have just been powerful moments to see an association united against the system of racial injustice.”
Groups of players around Major League Baseball also knelt during the national anthem last week as their season began.
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick began the recent trend of national anthem demonstrations in sports when he first sat and then knelt for the anthem in 2016 to protest social justice issues, including systemic racism and police brutality. Kaepernick has not played in an NFL game since Jan. 1, 2017.
The social justice pledge the Heat issued in June includes donating to organizations that are working to eradicate racial inequality, supporting education initiatives that serve the Black community and helping more Black students attend college, providing opportunities to Black students with its company mentoring and internship programs, supporting voter registration initiatives that make it easier for more people to vote, giving all Heat staff paid time off on Election Day to vote, designating Juneteenth as a permanent paid holiday for employees of the organization and partnering with Black-owned businesses in the community.
Spoelstra recently revealed the Heat has petitioned the city of Miami to use AmericanAirlines Arena as a voting site for the upcoming elections.
In addition, the Heat released a new Black Lives Matter Collection of Court Culture Apparel on Thursday, with all of the profits from the sales of the collection going to three organizations — Black Girls CODE, Health in the Hood and Florida Rights Restoration Coalition.
“There is a different feeling of hope right now that this is not losing momentum,” Spoelstra said Friday, “and more people are really starting to acknowledge that there is something wrong and then taking steps to change that. ... It is a historic opportunity to take steps to create lasting and sustainable change in this fight against racial inequalities.”
BUTLER’S REQUEST DENIED BY LEAGUE
All-Star wing Jimmy Butler said Friday he was still waiting on a definitive ruling from the NBA and National Basketball Players Association on his request to play without his last name on his jersey as a social statement. But the league ended up denying Butler’s request, as his last name was on the back of his jersey for Saturday’s game.
Butler initially walked onto the court for Saturday’s game with a jersey that did not include his last name as he vowed, but referees made him switch his jersey for one with Butler on the back before play could begin.
“I don’t know. I don’t care,” Butler said when asked for the official explanation he received from the league. “I didn’t have a name on the back at the start, but I decided to change it because my teammates probably needed me today.”
Butler said he feels like he got his message across Saturday by wearing a jersey without his last name under his warmups before switching it for the game. And he didn’t rule out doing the same thing next game.
“To tell you the truth, it’s still to be determined for the next game, as well,” Butler said.
Butler is also the only player on the Heat’s 17-man roster who opted not to wear a social justice message on the back of his jersey. His last name appeared on the bottom of his number, with the top reserved for the social justice message that was left blank for Butler.
This story was originally published August 1, 2020 at 1:29 PM.
