Miami Heat and Boston Celtics players took a knee in unison prior to their match at the AmericanAirlines Arena on Wednesday.
The act of solidarity is another strong message of protest from the league in the aftermath of Donald Trump supporters storming the US Capital to block the ceremonial counting of votes for new United States President Joe Biden.
Heat and Celtics players kneel for anthem. pic.twitter.com/2QrAtszPaT
— Ira Winderman (@IraHeatBeat) January 7, 2021
The Celtics and Heat initially agreed to storm off the court prior to tip-off, leading many fans to believe that another boycott might be in order. However, the two Eastern Conference teams returned to the floor shortly and disowned the Trump supporters' acts by kneeling during the national anthem. The powerful gesture also comes just a day after the Kenosha County District Attorney announced no charges filed against officer Rusten Sheskey for shooting Jacob Blake in the back seven times back in August.
Boston and Miami held a closed-door meeting 45 minutes before tip-off and released a joint statement.
The Boston Celtics and Miami Heat release statement: pic.twitter.com/GEUryOiEG0
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 7, 2021
The NBA and its players, meanwhile, performed several acts of protests last year at the height of the Black Lives Matter movement while inside the bubble at Walt Disney, Florida.
While the BLM movement has calmed down a bit over the past few months, it's apparent that the league will still continue to denounce social injustices around the country. It remains unclear if other NBA teams will follow the Celtics and Heat with protests of their own before their games in the coming days. NBA commissioner Adam Silver has already expressed in the past that they will not penalize players who will kneel during the national anthem.
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