Sports were on ESPN Wednesday night, though, as usual, the network found a way to mix in some politics.
Just before going to commercial, ESPN NBA analyst Jalen rose shouted, “It would be a great day to arrest the cops who murdered Breonna Taylor!”
Earlier on Wednesday, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron announced that a Grand Jury had voted to indict Officer Brett Hankison for wanton endangerment, in connection with the shooting death of Breonna Taylor. However, none of the three officers involved in the shooting were charged with murder, as many activists wanted.
The lack of a murder indictment touched off a wave of protests across the country, including an incident in Louisville that resulted in two officers being shot.
A chorus of NBA athletes spoke out against the indictment, referring the lack of a murder charge as a miscarriage of justice.
Utah Jazz player and former Louisville standout Donavan Mitchell, wrote about how he is “praying” for Louisville.
Montrezl Harrell of the Clippers said he was “speechless.”
Rose is not the only NBA personality to use his network as a platform for making social justice statements. Kenny Smith of TNT walked off the set of his show as NBA teams boycotted their games after the shooting of Jacob Blake.