The Los Angeles Lakers showed up to Game 1 of their first-round series against the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday night in red baseball caps, just with a twist.
Each cap had “Make America Great Again” sewed in white letters, much the same as the one President Donald Trump frequently wears; however the words “Great Again” were crossed out, and the message “Arrest The Cops Who Killed Breonna Taylor” was printed beneath them.
The Lakers’ Instagram account shared a gallery of the team wearing the caps from the hotel to the field for their playoff opener with the caption, “Justice for Breonna Taylor.”
“You know, this is something that we continue to put our foot on the gas, continue to pressure,” LeBron James said after the Lakers’ 100-93 loss. “You know, the situation that’s going on in Louisville, Kentucky. An innocent woman being killed in Breonna Taylor, a woman who had a bright future and her future was taken away from her. And there’s been no arrests. There’s been no justice. Not only for her, but for her family. And we want to continue to shed light on that situation, because it’s just unjust, and that’s what it’s about.”
It was a continuation of the calls for awareness about the conditions encompassing Taylor’s death made by the Lakers and numerous different players since the NBA welcomed 22 teams to Orlando, Florida, to restart its season a month ago.
Taylor, a Black crisis medical technician, was killed in Louisville after casually dressed officials executed a “no-knock” warrant identified with an narcotics examination and shot the 26-year-old at least eight times, per reports. No medications were found.
Taylor and her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, were awoken by the officials who used a battering ram to enter her apartment soon after midnight on March 13. Walker shot his firearm, he stated, in self-defense, accepting that his house was being broken into.
The police battle they fired their weapons simply after Walker shot his. Detective Brett Hankison was fired. Jon Mattingly and Myles Cosgrove, different officials included, were put on administrative reassignment.
Lonita Baker, the lawyer speaking to the Taylor family, met with Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron (R) a week ago.
“We’re not going to wait forever,” Baker said, according to the Washington Post. “We do want this resolved quickly and accurately.”
The last time James was in the playoffs, with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2018, he organized coordinating Thom Browne suits for his colleagues to wear to each game. The shared look on Tuesday was centered on activism instead of aesthetics.
“First and foremost, we can’t forget the big picture, why we’re here — justice for those who died,” Lakers guard Danny Green said after the game. “Breonna Taylor especially.”
