Mike Budenholzer: Hawks will be 'incredibly supportive' of players' activism
At Monday’s Media Day session, Atlanta Hawks players confirmed there have been internal discussions on how to approach the ongoing national anthem protests taking place across the sports landscape.
However the team collectively plans to address the situation and help raise awareness to, as an NBA and National Basketball Players Association joint letter phrased it last week, “the senseless acts of violence impacting our communities,” Hawks head coach and president of basketball operations Mike Budenholzer said the organization will provide its full support.
“I think just like a lot of the things that are happening with players in all the different leagues, hopefully we’ve started a conversation with our players — not just about what’s happening during national anthems but what’s happening in our country,” Budenholzer said. “We will be incredibly supportive of our players. Our ownership, our organization, myself as the coach and president, Wes (Wilcox) as our general manager, we want to be supportive of our players.”
The 2015 NBA Coach of the Year, who is entering his fourth season in Atlanta, added that he expects any action taken will be both thoughtful and respectful.
“If we can be those two things our country will be better. Our players have always been both of those things,” Budenholzer continued. “However it is they choose to do those, I will and the organization will support them and I think it’s just going to be a continuing conversation. Hopefully our country will get better going forward because of the conversation.”
The Hawks organization was directly affected by the very issues its players plan to help bring awareness to, of course, when standout wing Thabo Sefolosha suffered a broken fibula and ligament damage while being arrested in New York City in April 2015. The 32-year-old was acquitted of all charges and filed a federal lawsuit against the New York Police Department alleging false arrest, excessive force and civil rights violations this past April.
Sefolosha missed the final five regular-season games of the franchise’s 60-win season in 2015, the subsequent playoff run and spent the previous offseason rehabbing.
“To be honest, looking at some of the footage that we see of the guy in Tulsa and Charlotte and everything, I feel lucky to be here and be able to talk about what happened to me," Sefolosha said on Monday. "It could’ve went many different ways and I feel lucky to be able to speak on it.
“ ... The conversation needs to happen. It’s great that it’s happening. It’s sad to see those mistakes and those instances happening over and over again. I think it’s great that athletes — leaders in communities in a way, role models to a lot of kids — are able to have a voice and be heard on this subject.”
Sefolosha said he does not plan to protest during the national anthem.
Hawks forward Paul Millsap, one of the team’s leaders, said the organization's explicit support does not go unnoticed.
“It means a lot. It means you’re not fighting two battles,” Millsap said. “To have a team support you and not go the other way about it is great. It gives us confidence to speak out about it. It gives us confidence to do something about it.”
In light of national anthem protests from San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick to U.S. Women’s Soccer star Megan Rapinoe to high-school and college athletics around the country, a letter from the NBA and NBPA also confirmed the league is taking steps to address the troubling community concerns.
“The league and the Players Association, working together, have begun developing substantive ways for us to come together and take meaningful action,” read the letter, obtained by The Undefeated. Both commissioner Adam Silver and NBPA president Michelle Roberts signed the document.
“The idea are based on the actions many of you have taken or supported, including convening community conversations in NBA markets to engage young people, parents, community leaders and law enforcement in a candid dialogue; using our game to bring people together and build bonds of trust in our communities; and supporting mentoring and career development programs that help bring economic opportunity to young people of color.”
The Hawks, along with the rest of the NBA, are sending a clear message: They will be heard.
