Incredible New Mural In Los Angeles Features Lakers Standing In Front Of A Protest
A new mural was completed in Los Angeles ahead of the NBA playoffs that features Lakers coach Frank Vogel and each player on the team standing in front of a Black Lives Matter protest and healthcare workers who are holding social justice and health-related signs.
The signs include the following statements: "I Can't Breathe, "Black Lives Matter," "Justice Now" and "How Many More," as well as "Fight COVID" and "Wash Your Hands."
At the top of the mural, the following words are written: "LEAVE A LEGACY.”
Artist Gustavo Zermeño Jr. painted the mural in partnership with the Lakers and UCLA Health at 5522 Venice Blvd.
The Lakers have been at the forefront of the fight against racial injustice during the resumed NBA season at Walt Disney World near Orlando amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
LeBron James helped found the nonprofit More Than A Vote in June to end Black voter suppression. He has also been very vocal inside the NBA bubble about racism and police brutality.
Last month, he delivered an impassioned plea for the police officers who shot Breonna Taylor in Louisville in March to be arrested. And earlier this month, he wore a T-shirt in honor of George Floyd that had a stopwatch showing the numbers 8:46, which was the amount of time that a white police officer knelt on Floyd's neck in Minneapolis in May.
The Lakers, who clinched the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference for the first time since 2010 on Aug. 3, open their first-round playoff series against the eighth-seeded Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday.
They're competing for their first championship since 2010, when Kobe Bryant led the team to his fifth and final title.
Zermeño Jr. has also painted various tribute murals for Bryant, who died in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26, including one of James looking up at Bryant and other Laker greats clutching championship trophies.
