Michael Jordan, LeBron James and Naomi Osaka speak up for George Floyd
- ‘I am deeply saddened, truly pained and plain angry,’ six-time NBA winner says in rare political statement
- Naomi Osaka and LeBron James also speak up amid protests across US, while Bundesliga scorers make statement
Jordan, whose final season with the Chicago Bulls was the subject of recent documentary The Last Dance, wrote a statement released on the Twitter account of the Charlotte Hornets, the NBA team that he owns.
“I am deeply saddened, truly pained and plain angry,” he wrote. “I stand with those who are calling out the ingrained racism and violence toward people of colour in our country. We have had enough.
“I don’t have answers, but our collective voices show strength and the inability to be divided by others. We must listen to each other, show compassion and empathy and never turn out backs on senseless brutality.
“My heart goes out to the family of George Floyd and to the countless others whose lives have been brutally and senselessly taken through acts of racism and injustice,” he ended.