'Our Country Is Hurting': Cuban & Mavs Attend Floyd Prayer Vigil
DALLAS - Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban was joined by team members on Sunday evening as part of prayer vigil outside Dallas Police headquarters in the wake of the death of George Floyd, who died while in police custody last week in Minnesota.
“This is our community; our country,” Cuban told The Dallas Morning News. “Both are hurting. I wanted to be here to listen. To understand better the pain the African-American community is going through. And to show that the Mavs organization will be here to help.”
Cuban was accompanied by Mavericks players Dwight Powell, Justin Jackson, Jalen Brunson and Maxi Kleber. Also in attendance were Dallas police chief Reneé Hall and Dallas mayor Eric Johnson.
Protests have occurred all across the country following Floyd’s death on Monday in Minneapolis. Floyd died in police custody after an officer knelt on his neck for nine minutes, ignoring Floyd’s complaints of being unable to breathe.
Powell told the News: “I think it’s important for anybody who cares about justice and the things that are going on in this city and the things that have been going on in this country for a long time.
“It’s important to be a part of the conversation. I think Mark has done a great job in his leadership of us and showing us that we have a voice. To be able to be here and hear the voice of the community — share their opinions and thoughts and feelings — it was very important for us to be here today.”
Meanwhile, Sunday marked another day of demonstrations in Dallas, with Gov. Greg Abbott declaring a “state of disaster” in the state of Texas.
