Nuggets speak out about Breonna Taylor verdict

Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone and rookie Michael Porter Jr. discuss a grand jury decision on Breonna Taylor’s shooters.

The Denver Nuggets have been one of the most vocal teams in the NBA when it comes to matters of racial injustice and moral indecency.

On Wednesday, a couple of prominent members of the Nuggets’ organization spoke out about a grand jury’s decision not to charge any of the officers involved in the death of Breonna Taylor — a 26-year-old Black woman fatally shot by officers from the Louisville Metro Police Department — with shooting Ms. Taylor.

Nuggets head coach Michael Malone spoke at length about the grand jury’s decision, notably putting himself in the shoes of Taylor’s boyfriend and saying: “I put myself in Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend’s shoes. If I’m in my house, if I’m in my apartment and somebody breaks in at two [or] three o’clock in the morning, I’m going to feel like somebody should not be there.”

Taylor’s boyfriend fired at the police officers, believing that they were intruders.

Malone called it a “tragedy” that the officers weren’t charged and stated that it made him think of Elijah McClain, who was put in a sleeper hold by police officers in Aurora, CO and injected with ketamine by first responders. McClain would suffer a heart attack on the way to the hospital and die days later, after he was declared to be brain dead.

Nuggets rookie Michael Porter Jr., who drew ire from many for suggesting that people should pray for the officers responsible for the death of George Floyd in hopes that a higher power could change their hearts, would speak on the grand jury’s decision not to charge the officers involved in Ms. Taylor’s shooting (quote transcribed by The Rookie Wire’s Cody Taylor):

"I didn’t even know that; I don’t have Instagram, I don’t have Twitter. There are really no words for that. Everybody knows that’s not right. This is the first time I’m hearing about that but that’s heartbreaking. I know a lot of people have been doing a lot of stuff trying to get the justice that situation needs and to hear that happened is not right."

Jerami Grant, who has perhaps been the most vocal player in regards to getting justice for Taylor, declined to speak on the topic.

[Editor’s note: Veteran forward Paul Millsap later took to Twitter to address the grand jury decision with this tweet]

The circumstances surrounding Ms. Taylor’s death and the lack of accountability that the officers who shot her were held to are indeed tragic but they’re also unsurprising given the lack of punishment faced by law enforcement officials in matters of police brutality and racial injustice.

In the case of Ms. Taylor and Mr. McClain, none of the officers were fired or criminally charged for their deaths. In 2017, the officer responsible for fatally shooting Philando Castile was found not guilty of second-degree manslaughter.

Fortunately, in the case of Mr. Floyd, those officers have been criminally charged and will face trial. The recent shooting of Jacob Blake, which prompted protest from the NBA and other sports leagues, is still under investigation.

The juxtaposition between those sets of cases shows that there is hope for justice but the fact that police brutality has been racially charged highlights what’s an uncomfortable truth for many Americans who would like to believe that racism is a thing of the past.

Unless you’re living under a rock or purposely ignoring what’s right in front of your eyes, it’s not hard to see that racism is alive and well. Or to see that there’s a large segment of citizens who would rather turn a blind eye to these injustices or rationalize it instead of bettering society by creating sustainable change.

There has been a moral deterioration in America that makes it an even scarier place for it’s Black citizens and instances like the grand jury decision give the wrong message to the 44 million Black people who call America home.