Colin Kaepernick, the NFL star who took a knee during the National Anthem back in 2016, has thanked NBA legend LeBron James for participating in the NBA boycott with the intention to fight racial injustice in the country.
Following the shooting of Jacob Blake, a Kenosha County father who was shot in the back seven times by the police, James had been advocating the boycott of NBA games to show support for Blake’s family and protest police brutality.
Following a series of NBA walk-offs, Kaepernick thanked James for the support in a hand-written letter of which a photo has been shared by the basketball player on his Instagram page.
“Four years ago on August 14, 2016, I began protesting against systemic racism and social injustice,” the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback wrote.
“Truth is what I sought. Solidarity is what you showed me. Love is what moves us forward. Thank you for staying true.”
In a caption accompanying the photo of the letter, James responded by writing: “Standing/kneeling right next to you brother! Appreciate you.”
The NBA walk-offs started earlier this week when the Milwaukee Bucks, who insisted they couldn’t focus on the game due to the Kenosha demonstrations, refused to play against the Orlando Magic.
After refusing to take to the court, three more matches that were supposed to take place on Wednesday got canceled. In addition, three Thursday games got canceled as well.
During an emergency meeting, James allegedly called for an end of the entire NBA season. According to the reports, however, former President Barack Obama managed to convince him to go on with the season and use its remaining matches to advocate for the desired changes.
On Saturday, players reportedly agreed to resume the season provided that the NBA and its stars will launch a coalition that will promote civic engagement and criminal justice reform.
“These commitments follow months of close collaboration around designing a safe and healthy environment to restart the NBA season, providing a platform to promote social justice, as well as creating an NBA Foundation focused on economic empowerment in the Black community,” NBA officials said in a statement.
Replaced!