Jalen Rose had a few words to say after the former Bulls and Lakers coach Phil Jackson made comments about not watching the NBA anymore due to “politics.”
Sports analyst and former NBA baller, Rose caught wind of Jackson’s statements making rounds on social media and recorded a video and shared it to his Twitter account. “Phil Jackson claims to have stop supporting the NBA because it became to political when it went into the bubble and was catering to certain audiences by putting slogans on the back of jerseys and Black Lives Matter on the floor.” He said. “This is the same Phil Jackson who won championships with some of the greatest black athletes in the history of the game.”
“You’re sitting up watching the game with your grandkids, and y’all think it’s funny when justice passes the ball to equal opportunity. When somebody shows them who they are, believe them. So stop watching, forever,” Rose said.
My thoughts on Phil Jackson’s comments. https://t.co/Hgq5gPNJg4 pic.twitter.com/Vp3eH9uukH
— Jalen Rose (@JalenRose) April 23, 2023
As we previously reported, Jackson was a recent guest on Rick Rubin’s podcast, Tetragrammaton. During the episode, the Montana native was asked if he still watched basketball, and he responded, “No, I don’t.” Instead, he shared how players using their platforms to take a stand against inequality by putting “slogans” on their jerseys following the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and worldwide protests was light and funny to his grandchildren but not so much to him.
“I watched some of the game evolve and decided…and they went into the lockout year, and they did something that was kind of wanky. They did a bubble down in Orlando, and all the teams that could qualify went down here and stayed down there,” he told Rubin. “And they had things on their back like justice. I mean, a little funny thing like justice just went to the basket, and equal opportunity just knocked him down,” the Hall of Famer said.
Phil Jackson, widely seen as the greatest coach in NBA history, says he doesn’t watch the NBA anymore because of all the political slogans introduced in 2020. He’s not alone in this. My oldest daughter and I used to love watching but it got too political to watch. pic.twitter.com/bV6Sb0qvrK
— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) April 22, 2023
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He continued, “So my grandkids thought it was pretty funny to play up those names, so I couldn’t watch that.”
Jackson believes sports should focus on the game, not things off the court. In addition, he thinks the NBA didn’t realize they’d lose viewers when they let players use their First Amendment right to support social justice conversations.“They even had slogans on the floor and on the baseline. It was catering; it was trying to cater to an audience or trying to bring a certain audience into play. They didn’t know it was turning other people off. People want to see sports as nonpolitical,” the 77-year-old said. “They [politics] don’t need to be there.”
#Socialites how are we feeling about this?
The post Jalen Rose Responds To Phil Jackson After Anti-BLM Statements: ‘When Somebody Shows You Who They Are, Believe Them’ appeared first on Hollywood Unlocked .