Sixers' Doc Rivers Reacts to Washington D.C. Riots on Wednesday
As the Philadelphia 76ers gear up for a basketball game against the Washington Wizards on Wednesday, protestors are storming the nation's Capitol in Washington D.C. as the electoral college works to certify the results of the presidential election.
Sixers head coach Doc Rivers, who has never been one to shy away from sharing his political opinion or thoughts on social injustice in America, reacted to the events going on in D.C. hours before his team was set to tip off against the Wizards in Philadelphia on Wednesday.
"It's pretty disturbing and sad," Rivers said Monday. "What it's not, is I keep hearing, 'This attack on democracy.' It's not. . . Democracy will prevail. It always does. It shows a lot though. When you saw protests in the summer, you saw the riots or more the police, the National Guard, and the Army. And then you see this and you saw nothing. It basically proves the point about a privileged life in a lot of ways.
"I'll say it because I don't think a lot of people want to—could you imagine today if those were all Black people storming into the Capitol and what would've happened?" Rivers continued. "So, that to me is a picture that's worth 1,000 words for all of us to see and probably something for us to reckon with again. No police dogs turned on people. No billy clubs hitting people. People being peacefully escorted out of the Capitol. So, it shows you can disperse a crowd peacefully, I guess would be one thing. It's a sad day in a lot of ways. Not good for our country more across the borders that people see this. But it's a part of who we are and so we have to solve it."
While Rivers expressed concern for Wednesday night's opponent, as they come from the location of the violent protests, the Sixers head coach didn't reveal any plans to cancel or postpone the game against the Wizards.
The idea has been brought up by many, but ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the NBA and NBPA have had "no formal discussion" regarding the possibility of postponing any of the 11 NBA games on Wednesday's slate. The Sixers and the Wizards are scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m. ET.
Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_
