Paul George ‘Would Have Been All For’ NBA Shutting Down After Capitol Breach

Ralph Freso/Associated Press

Los Angeles Clippers All-Star Paul George said he would have supported a decision to cancel all NBA games Wednesday after a pro-Trump mob breached the Capitol in Washington, D.C.

“I would have been all for the league to shut down,” George told reporters. “I think this is something that definitely should have been addressed but there’s a fine line because it does give people some positivity to watch games…but I definitely would have been all for [the NBA] shutting down.”

The NBA decided to move forward with its full 11-game slate Wednesday night, and George took part in the Clippers’ 108-101 victory over the Golden State Warriors.

Several teams decided to take some form of action.

The Boston Celtics and Miami Heat issued a joint statement about the starkly different treatment of the rioters at the Capitol and those who marched in support of Black men like Jacob Blake, who was paralyzed from the waist down in August after being shot by a police officer who wasn’t charged in the case Tuesday:

“2021 is a new year, but some things have not changed. We play tonight’s game with a heavy heart after yesterday’s decision in Kenosha, and knowing that protesters in our nation’s capital are treated differently by political leaders depending on what side of certain issues they are on. The drastic difference between the way protesters this past spring and summer were treated and the encouragement given to today’s protesters who acted illegally just shows how much more work we have to do.

“We have decided to play tonight’s game to try to bring joy into people’s lives. But we must not forget the injustices in our society, and we will continue to use our voices and our platform to highlight these issues and do everything we can to work for a more equal and just America.”

The Detroit Pistons and Milwaukee Bucks each committed a turnover while all 10 players on the court took a knee together to start their game:

Atlanta Hawks head coach Lloyd Pierce was among the many others in the NBA who highlighted the differences between how protests involving in the Black Lives Matter movement were met with fierce resistance compared to Wednesday’s insurgence response:

“It’ll never change unless there’s acknowledgment in the past with regards to how African Americans have always been treated in the history of that and going back to slavery and going back to Reconstruction and going back to civil rights. You can’t say that things are going to change if you don’t acknowledge that it’s a problem. What you’re seeing today is a reminder there’s a huge difference. There’s a reason why there [isn’t] shooting and brutality and looting and things of that nature, and people are just walking around the Capitol building as if it’s nothing; and people sitting in [Speaker of the House of Representatives] Nancy Pelosi’s office as if it’s nothing.

“We all understand that there would’ve been guns ablaze and fires ablaze right now if there were Black people protesting, and if there were Black people protesting on the outside. We haven’t even mentioned the inside and tearing up the building.”

Meanwhile, George’s Clippers teammate Marcus Morris said he didn’t think the teams’ decision to kneel for the national anthem was a strong enough response in this instance.

“My personal opinion: that wasn’t enough,” Morris told reporters. “I thought we shouldn’t have played.”

There are five NBA games scheduled for Thursday, including two nationally broadcast matchups on TNT: the Philadelphia 76ers vs. Brooklyn Nets and Dallas Mavericks vs. Denver Nuggets.