Michael Jordan did something that he rarely does on Monday when he released a statement about the social issues that are having a resounding effect on the African-American community as well as the rest of the country right now. In that statement, MJ said he "can no longer stay silent" with regards to the police shootings that have taken place in recent weeks, and he also pledged to donate $1 million to both the Institute for Community-Police Relations and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.
While MJ was doing that, Carmelo Anthony was in Los Angeles with the men’s and women’s U.S. Olympic basketball teams holding a meeting with community leaders about some of the same social issues that MJ alluded to in his statement. Carmelo revealed he was planning to hold the meeting last week and said he was doing it in order to facilitate conversations amongst those in the community.
"We want to get youth. We want to get kids. We want to get officers. We want to get teachers. We want to get community leaders, athletes, everybody, having this conversation and talking on both sides, hearing each other out," he said last Thursday after a Team USA practice.
After the meeting was over, Carmelo sat down in front of reporters to answer some questions about it, and during the Q&A, he was asked to respond to MJ’s statement. He called it "brilliant" and also said it’s "about time" MJ gets involved in the conversation.
"I thought it was brilliant and about time that he stepped up and said what he said," Carmelo told the media. "Because at the end of the day, amongst us, he is our face. He’s an African-American above every powerful African-American, so for him to step up in the midst of these times right now, it was very big on his behalf. And...it’s not always about money and giving back, but for him to step up and put his money where his mouth at, the timing was perfect."
Go here if you haven’t read MJ’s statement yet.
