Dwight Howard: Focus Should Be On Police Who Shot Breonna Taylor Not Who Wears A Mask In The Bubble

Dwight Howard wants people to focus on getting justice for Breonna Taylor instead of who wears a mask inside the NBA bubble in Orlando.

Howard, who was recently reported to the NBA Campus Hotline for not wearing a face covering on the Walt Disney World campus, said too much is getting made of that issue when the nation's attention should be elsewhere.

"Breonna Taylor, the people who did the heinous incident against her, they’re still free," Howard said on a video conference call Saturday. "They’re out there living their best life. Instead of worrying about if I have my mask on or not, that’s something we should be discussing. Why haven’t these people been brought in? Why haven’t they been charged for anything or even arrested for what they’ve done?"

Taylor, a 26-year-old black woman, was shot by three Louisville police officers on March 13 in her own apartment in what's being called a botched drug-warrant execution. The officers were targeting two people suspected of selling drugs, neither of whom were Taylor. Officer Brett Hankison was fired, while officers Myles Cosgrove and Jonathan Mattingly were placed on administrative leave.

"Instead of the topics being about who’s not wearing a mask in the bubble, who was at the DJ party, who wasn’t, all of these things seem entertaining, but we’re not going to forget about what’s going on around our world," Howard said. "Those cops, one of the cops just posted a picture of himself at the beach. How could you have a conscience? You just killed somebody. And you’re out at the beach with women? You killed a woman."

Howard was reported to the anonymous tip hotline the NBA setup for players, coaches and staff inside the 22-team bubble to report violations of the league's safety protocols amid the COVID-19 pandemic. It has been nicknamed the "snitch hotline."

Howard was surprised someone turned him in.

"I thought it was pointless for somebody to tell that I didn’t have a mask on by myself," Howard said. "I don’t even know when this would’ve happened. I just think everybody’s making a big deal out of it. But I feel like we’re in the safest place in Orlando. We get tested every day. So we’re only around each other. We get tested every day. We can’t practice with masks on. I personally don’t see a risk of us getting it during the time period that we’re here. We’re not allowed to leave the bubble. We’re only around each other every day. I just feel like it would be pointless for somebody to say anything."

Howard emphasized that outside of the bubble, everyone should wear masks. As of Friday, there's been 3,555,877 reported cases of COVID-19 in the United States according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including 137,864 deaths.

"I understand outside of this bubble, wearing a mask in different places is very important," Howard said. "So I wouldn’t say that it’s not needed. But since we are here in this bubble and we’re the only ones here and the staff and everyone is getting tested every day, I feel like we’re safe."

Lakers coach Frank Vogel said Friday that he was aware that Howard broke the rules. He said everyone has made big sacrifices to be in the bubble and its up to each individual to protect its integrity.

"The areas that we’re being asked to wear a mask, we should wear a mask," Vogel said. "And he’s doing so now.”

Last month, Howard questioned whether he should participate in the resumed NBA season over concerns that basketball would distract from social justice issues.

He said Saturday he wants people to move on from his indiscretion and focus on ending racism and police brutality.

"There’s families out there mourning, white and black who’ve been killed by cops," he said. "Been killed through different things. The topic of discussion is who doesn’t have a mask on and people snitching. Let’s not forget why we are here. We’re going to use our platform to discuss the things we want to talk about, not the entertainment of the mask."