Carmelo Anthony praised Michael Jordan for making a strong public statement on the growing racial and social unrest in the U.S.
Melo is proud of his Jordan Brand boss for “put his money where his mouth is at“—Jordan pledged a total of $2 million to a couple of organizations working to build trust between the police and their communities.
Carmelo Anthony on Michael Jordan's statement today. "I thought it was brilliant and about time he stepped up." pic.twitter.com/D3htGey0MI
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) July 25, 2016
Anthony spoke Monday afternoon after running a two-hour town hall meeting at a South Los Angeles youth center.
Per the AP:
With only a few spare hours Monday before jetting off to continue the Americans’ pre-Olympic tour, Anthony gathered basketball stars, community leaders and police officers to speak with teenagers and young adults about the importance of respect, communication and safety. Roughly 200 people came together for the meeting, and Anthony believes everyone left with something to contemplate.
“We really got a lot of messages out of today,” Anthony said. “Hopefully we can continue this dialogue, and we created something today that will continue on.”
Anthony shares many Americans’ profound disquiet with gun violence after this year’s series of increasingly dismaying shootings. With both the men’s and women’s Olympic teams in Los Angeles at the same time, the New York Knicks star recruited fellow Olympian Tamika Catchings and other like-minded athletes at the Challengers Boys and Girls Club to begin a badly needed nationwide conversation. […] “There were some very, very powerful messages that were being talked about,” Anthony said. “Not just amongst us as athletes, but among the youth. The youth really spoke out today about how they feel about their community, how they feel about police officers, how they feel about relationships and how we can mend these relationships.”
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Carmelo Anthony: ‘I’m Calling On My Fellow Athletes To Step Up And Take Charge’
