Steph Curry applauds fellow NBA players for activism, Stephon Clark response
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People across the country have expressed outrage over the March 18 fatal police shooting of 22-year-old Stephon Clark, a Black father of two from Sacramento, and pro ball players are no different.
NBA MVP Steph Curry tells CBS Sports he is proud of the change his fellow players are pushing for as they use their celebrity to protest.
“Everybody has a voice, everybody has an opportunity to stand for something and to speak how they feel,” the 30-year-old Golden State Warriors guard told CBS. “I think as NBA players, we’ve done a great job of embracing that responsibility and being a voice for people who don’t have one for themselves.”
Curry, who is nursing a knee injury, was referring to a string of instances in which players have responded to the Clark shooting. The young man was shot multiple times in the back in his grandmother’s backyard. Police said they thought he had a weapon, but he had only a cell phone in his hands.
NBA players actively protesting Clark death
Last weekend, former NBA player Matt Barnes led a rally with Clark’s family to demand that police be held accountable in Clark’s death. Barnes, who played for the Sacramento Kings, also launched a scholarship fund for Clark’s two sons. Players for the Sacramento Kings and the Boston Celtics wore black T-shirts recently that read, “Accountability. We Are One” on the front and, in back, “#StephonClark.” The Kings also announced plans to set up an educational fund for the family and plans to partner with Black Lives Matter Sacramento to bring positive change to the community, the Daily Mail reported.
“You see what happened in Sacramento and across the league when it comes to any issue,” Curry said. “Us NBA guys are not afraid of that opportunity and using it for good and to create a conversation for change.”
He added, “We’re on that mission for sure.”
In the interview, Curry also discussed his own local activism—participation in a campaign with Brita to bring clean water to schools in Oakland and around the country that have contaminated water. The campaign, called “Filter for the Future,” pays for hydration stations at schools contending with lead and other contamination issues, Curry told CBS.
“It’s obviously great for the students, great for the schools but also great for the environment,” Curry said. “The waste that’s being used by so much water bottles across the country,” he explained. “That’s how you can get involved, support the cause and protect the future with our youth.”
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