Lakers React To Breonna Taylor Decision: 'It Was Disappointing,' Says Danny Green
LeBron James texted his teammates to tell them a ruling was coming in the Breonna Taylor case.
They were scattered at the time.
"Some of us were near a TV, some of us weren't," Danny Green said in a videoconference Wednesday. "Some of us were getting treatment and on our way to the meeting to do film and cleanup."
They weren't physically together but they were unified in their response.
"Nobody was really happy about it," Green said. "It was disappointing. I guess in a sense something was done. But it wasn't enough."
Taylor, a 26-year-old Black Emergency Medical Technician, was shot by Louisville Metro Police officers on March 13 in her apartment in a botched raid.
On Wednesday, a grand jury indicted a former officer for wanton endangerment. There were no charges filed against the other two officers who shot Taylor. And none of the officers were charged for her death.
"The results of what happened is not significant enough, not harsh enough in the eyes of people that are fighting for justice for Breonna Taylor," Alex Caruso said. "And I'm not sure legally what the process is next. I'll have to do some more research and find some more information out. But hopefully there are more steps to be able to gain better justice for her."
Since arriving in the NBA bubble at Walt Disney World in June, many players, including James and his teammates, have devoted themselves to getting justice for Taylor.
James delivered impassioned comments about Taylor in July, saying he wants the officers who shot her to be arrested, adding, "It’s fortunate that we had the George Floyd video to see it. I mean, is that what we need to see a video of Breonna being killed to realize how bad the situation is?"
Before each interview in Florida, Green has brought up Taylor before answering basketball questions.
Green said he's trying not to "get down or get discouraged," adding that he thinks players have made an impact.
"I think we're being heard, but obviously the goals that we're trying to achieve we're very far away from after seeing today's verdict," Green said. "Like I said, it's a disappointment. We feel like we've taken a step back, that we haven't made the progress we were seeking. Our voices aren't being heard loud enough. But we're not going to stop. We're going to continue. We're going to continue fighting."
Caruso was part of a Zoom call that over 30 NBA players had with Taylor's mother in July. He's often thought about how she must be feeling.
"I always try to put myself in the position of the people that are going through stuff," Caruso said. "I try to be as emotionally connected as I can, and I try to imagine if that was one of my sisters or one of my parents. Those people are a lot stronger and a lot more professional with the way they handle themselves than I think I would [be] if it happened to somebody that I knew."
Green said he wouldn't be surprised if players on the four remaining teams in the bubble hold a meeting to determine their next steps, just as they did in the first round of the playoffs after Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, was shot in the back by police officers multiple times Aug. 23 in Kenosha, WI.
"If we were to have another meeting like that it would be a lot smaller group, but still could be very effective as long as the message gets relayed and passed down to everyone outside of the bubble," Green said.
Green said players will come up with a plan one way or another.
This much is for sure -- they won't give up.
"We need more time as a group, not just our team, but everyone in the bubble and outside the bubble to figure out how we can continue to get progress in these certain aspects, in these certain categories, in certain communities, because with what happened today, [that] wasn't enough," he said.
