Golden State Warriors players Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant joined former NFL player Colin Kaepernick in finishing off his one-million-dollar pledge for charitable causes this week.
The two NBA stars ponied up $10,000 each to help the former San Francisco 49er complete his charity giveaway to social justice causes, according to Sporting News.
Acknowledging that some may question the relative value of the causes Kaepernick decided to support with his large donations; Curry pro-actively nixed any criticism of those causes.
“I don’t want to hear from anybody that’s criticizing what he’s doing with that million dollars,” Curry told the San Francisco Chronicle “You can disagree with him, you can disagree with his kneeling and that whole journey, or anything he said. But the fact that he’s putting his money where his mouth is and going to communities and actually helping, not just talking, anybody who wants to criticize that can go somewhere else with that.”
Durant agreed, adding that Kaepernick is taking the “social justice” concept seriously . Durant also defended the protests Kaepernick began during the playing of the national anthem:
“There are a lot of people that want to be in the dark about who they are and what they believe in. They want it to stay in the dark,” Durant said. “So I think he kind of brought everything to light. And a lot of people that he uncovered some truths about, they hate him. And the people that love him enjoy that he’s kind of been a whistler-blower for some of that stuff.”
Durant said that although many NFL power brokers and fans dislike the protests, “It’s a conversation we need to have, and maybe he’s uncovering some stuff that’s going on in the higher-ups and front offices and the executives, that people don’t want to hear about.”
Durant added, “I love what he’s doing. He’s taking the brunt of the punch for everybody who believes what he’s standing up for. So all power and respect to him.”
Colin Kaepernick sat out the entire 2017 NFL season after becoming a free agent at the end of 2016. Many feel he was blackballed by league owners because he invented the anthem protests.
In the Chronicle, Curry also said that Kaepernick should be given a chance to get back into the NFL if he wants to play.
Curry told the paper that if Kaepernick wants to play, “he should be given the opportunity.” Curry then added, “then he’d have to earn it from there, like every other NFL player.”
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.
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