Sports World Reacts To Chauvin Verdict

“George Floyd’s murder was a flash point for how we look at race and justice in our country and we are pleased that justice appears to have been served,” Adam Silver, the commissioner of the N.B.A., and Michele Roberts, the executive director of the players’ union, said in a joint statement on Tuesday.

“While this verdict represents a step toward justice, we are reminded that justice is too often not the outcome for people of color,” said Cathy Engelbert, the commissioner of the W.N.B.A.

The W.N.B.A. dedicated its 2020 season to social justice. In the summer, after the N.B.A. restarted its season near Orlando, Fla., Milwaukee Bucks players organized a walkout to protest the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wis., which ballooned into stoppages involving hundreds of athletes across baseball, soccer, hockey and tennis.

“I was going to make a celebratory tweet but then I was hit with sadness because we are celebrating something that is clear as day,” the tennis star Naomi Osaka said of the Chauvin verdict. Osaka prompted a tournament to halt play when she planned to drop out in solidarity with the Bucks and other athletes who did not play after Blake was shot. “The fact that so many injustices occurred to make us hold our breath toward this outcome is really telling.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/20/sports/chauvin-trial-george-floyd-sports.html