Sports chatter: Kobe Bryant murals remain untouched in Los Angeles during protests
Kobe Bryant's murals have been in the areas surrounding the riots and protests in Los Angeles, but they have gone untouched.
Los Angeles has held protests in the days after the death of George Floyd and many stores and buildings have been damaged, but Kobe Bryant’s murals have remained untouched.
Vanessa Bryant posted the murals on her Instagram story to show her appreciation. In some cases, areas surrounding the murals had been damaged. Vanessa posted 16 untouched murals that include Kobe with Gianna “Gigi” Bryant and others with Natalia Bryant.
Kobe had been an advocate for black athletes using their platform to move the culture forward.
“It’s crucial in what we stand for,” Bryant said. “It’s crucial in what America stands for.”
Sports figures continue to speak out
Derek Jeter, Tiger Woods, the Ohio State football program and Anthony Lynn are some of the latest people to take a stand in the wake of George Floyd’s death.
Woods tweeted a statement last night to show his support in hope of creating a “unified society.”
Jeter used his platform to speak out against racial hatred.
“This is a narrative that has happened far too often with us as people of color,” Jeter said. “It is time for racial hatred to end and to be unquestionably recognized and responded to with severe punishment.”
The Ohio State football team has been one of the most successful programs in college football history. A lot of its recent success can be attributed to the quarterback position, which has been led by African Americans, namely Justin Fields, Dwayne Haskins, J.T. Barrett, Cardale Jones and Braxton Miller in the past nine years.
The Buckeyes posted a video yesterday to show their support for change.
Anthony Lynn is one of three black head coaches in the NFL, with Mike Tomlin and Brian Flores being the others. Lynn didn’t want to release a statement, so he had an open conversation with Los Angeles Times Columnist, LZ Granderson.
“I haven’t done anything to make this a better place for my son," Lynn said. "I remember having the talk with him when he was 16 about how to handle police and then at age 30 I called him up and just had the talk with him again because I’m so scared. I want to do something but to be honest with you, I don’t know what that is.”
Lynn discussed police brutality, the LA riots in 1992, personal incidents with the police and criminal justice reform. The conversation also led to Lynn giving his thoughts on Colin Kaepernick’s protest in 2016.
“People completely misunderstood Colin and what he was trying to do," Lynn said. "People talked about disrespecting the flag . . . the flag covers a lot — patriotism and civil rights and other things. And Colin was speaking out against the injustice and a lot of people didn’t catch on to that because it was happening during the national anthem.”