Wednesday 26 August 2020 22:35, UK
LA Clippers head coach Doc Rivers used his post-game news conference to deliver an emotional response to the police shooting of Jacob Blake.
On Wednesday, CNN reported Blake's lawyer Benjamin Crump said "it will take a miracle" for the 29-year-old to ever walk again.
Speaking in the aftermath of the Clippers' Game 5 rout of the Dallas Mavericks, Rivers was asked to comment on the shooting in Kenonsha, Wisconsin. Blake, an unarmed black man, was shot seven times during a dispute with police on Sunday.
An emotional Rivers, who grew up the son of a police officer, called for the reform to police training and accused the Republican Party of "spewing" fear.
"It is just so sad, he said. "What stands out to me watching the Republican Convention is that they are spewing this fear. All you hear [is] Donald Trump and all of them talking about fear. We are the ones getting killed. We are the ones getting shot. We are the ones denied [the right] to live in certain communities. We have been hung. We have been shot. And all you do is keep hearing about fear.
"It's amazing to me why we keep loving this country and this country does not love us back. It's really so sad. I should just be a coach. I am so often reminded of my colour and it's just really sad. We have got to do better. But we have to demand better.
"It's funny. We protest and they send riot guards. They go to Michigan with guns and they are spitting on cops and nothing happens," he continued.
"The training has to change in the police force. The unions have to be taken down in the police force, My dad was a cop. I believe in good cops. We are not trying to defund the police and take all their money away. We are trying to get them to protect us, just like they protect everybody else.
"I didn't want to talk about [the Jacob Blake shooting] before the game because it is so hard to keep watching it. If you watch that video, you don't need to be black to be outraged. You need to be American and outraged.
"How dare the Republicans talk about fear. We are the ones that need to be scared. We are the ones having to talk to every black child. What white father has to give his son a talk about having to be careful if you get pulled over?
"It is just ridiculous. It keeps going. There are no charges [in the killing of] Breonna Taylor, no charges nothing. All we are asking is that you live up to the constitution for everybody and everyone."
Rivers' comments were echoed by his All-Star Paul George, who called on people to make change with their votes in US election in November.
He said: "There's some coward cops out there. It's the system. We got to change it. I ask all my brothers and sisters out there to continue this fight while we're in here, we'll continue the fight while we're in here. Everybody has to join together.
"It starts with our president. It goes from there. That's where it starts. It starts with people that are in position, the higher positions. It starts with them.
"To be truthful, I can't even say that. It starts with us as Americans and as voters. It starts with us as voters to put those people in position to do the right thing.
"We can't blame them because that's who they are. We're empowering them. As voters, it's on us. We got to put people in positions that are going to do the right thing and that know right from wrong. We all play a part in this."
