Sports

Now ‘Black Lives Matter’ is everywhere in American sports

November 29, 2020 by Aaron Taylor

Black Lives Matter Logo

Who would’ve thought four years ago, in 2016, that then-49ers QB Colin Kaepernick and defensive back Eric Reid would start a movement by taking a knee during the national anthem?

In 2016, this form of peaceful protest was seen by many Americans as disrespectful to the United States.

What a difference four years, a global pandemic, and a death by a knee on a neck make.

In 1992, I actively took part in the LA uprising after the acquittal of the four
LAPD officers in the beating of Rodney King. For decades, people in mainly Black and Brown communities spoke of beatings and executions of unarmed citizens by the hands of law enforcement.

In 1991, finally, we had
video evidence—the same
type of evidence that had
been used against citizens in
shoplifting, bank robberies,
etc. But that didn’t mean anything to the people of Simi
Valley, where the King trial
was held. Not Guilty…
No support from professional sports figures.
No help from the majority
population en masse.
No public service announcements.
That was 1992. It’s twentyeight years and one generation later in 2020—and now?
Change is here.
Black Lives Matter is a
part of the four major sports
leagues in North America.
Honestly, it’s everywhere in
sports. Baseball has players
kneeling; the women’s soccer league had their national
television opening with all
players taking a knee and
donning “Black Lives Matter” T-shirts.
NASCAR has banned the
Confederate flag at the behest
of Bubba Wallace, the motor sport’s most visible Black
driver. The NHL has “We
skate for Black lives” banners,
and the Premiere LaCrosse
League (yes, America has a
PLL) had its championship
game televised, with the winning team sporting “Black
Lives Matter” patches on their
jerseys.
On Aug. 16, at the Spanish
Grand Prix, all drivers either
took a knee before the race or
wore “Black Lives Matter” or
“End Racism” T-shirts. The
race? Barcelona, Spain.
You know who isn’t happy

about this: President Donald
Trump. He called the painting
of Black Lives Matter on Fifth
Avenue in front of Trump
Plaza a “symbol of hate.” Fox
Sports Radio’s number one
host, Clay Travis of “Outkick the Coverage,” has railed
against Black Lives Matter, as
well as helped to spread disinformation about COVID and
helped to fuel racial tensions
on his platforms.
It was Fox stations that
from 2016 told Black athletes to “just shut up and play
sports.”
No. Athletes and their
leagues are now fully engaged
in criminal and social justice
reform and are clearly using
their platforms to show the
intersection of Black athletes
and the communities that they
come from.
The theme: equal justice,
equal access, equal rights for
all Americans.
Twenty-five years after I
took part in the LA uprisings,
25 years after I appeared on
the Ed Gordon BET Special “Black Men Speak on
Black Men in America,” and
24 years after my voice was
amplified on Dr. Dre’s album
“The Chronic” in 1993.
In December 2017, I appeared on stage as a panelist
on the San Quentin Newssponsored Sports and Social
Justice panel. On the panel
were Eric Reid and Robbie
Gould of the 49ers; the general manager of the Golden
State Warriors, Bob Myers;
the legendary Dr. Harry Edwards. Host was Van Jones,
political analyst and founder
of Cut50.
This was the culmination of
a vision of Arnulfo T. Garcia,
the late former editor-in-chief,
who saw San Quentin News as
more than just a prison newspaper. He envisioned SQNews
as a vehicle and a convergence
and intersection of all voices
within society—the powerless
speaking to and listening to
the powerful.
The San Quentin News
has been in the forefront of
bringing district attorneys and
politicians together with the
incarcerated citizens that they
represent, as well as police
chiefs and public defenders
and having them meet state
senators and judges to see the
results of self-help programs.
And how even sports can
be a model for what rehabilitation can look like behind the
walls.
COVID-19 didn’t stop this
movement. It amplified it and
made it an international affair.

The future of San Quentin sports

November 29, 2020 by Timothy Hicks

Sports are back in season all over the world except in San Quentin prison. Fans of all sports are able to cheer on their favorite teams and players now that all professional sports leagues are in the swing of things again.

LeBron James can showcase his monster dunks, Serena Williams can swing
a racket on the world stage of tennis courts, Madison Bumgarner can strike out some hard-hitting batters up at the plate trying to take it out of the park.

Fans have to enjoy their favorite sports from the virtual lens of their monitors while sitting at home, of course. The NBA and all other franchises, except football, have a no-fans-in-the-arena policy to abide by. All sports franchises have to quarantine in a bubble or away from the public for two weeks in order to compete on the platform of choice. “It’s no different from being inside our cells or in sports—we still caught the virus,” said Cuevas, former SQ Warriors sports coach.

Some professional sports teams have been unable to play their rivals due to a member testing positive for COVID-19.

SQ sports had to be totally shut down for officials to handle the outbreak within the prison. COVID-19 swept worldwide at the beginning of the year and forced the stoppage of all sports everywhere. Now that cities and states are figuring out how to cope with the new normal, coaches and sport leagues have opened up partially, except for SQ.

San Quentin athletes are eager to figure out some way to bring sports back to the prison as well. “Just resume normal program,” suggests Cuevas.

Michael R. Pulido, equipment manager of all sports at the prison, wants the prison to hurry up and move the tent off of the baseball field because he thinks they are messing up the mounds.

“Sports is everything to me,” said Pulido. “I miss just watching the teams and all the guys play. I miss the brotherhood. It don’t matter what race you are, we’re all in this together when it comes to sports.”

Pulido had advice on how to get through this and back to normal. “Although it’s hard right now,” he said, “this is where exercising what we learned in all those self-help groups comes in. It’s gonna take a team effort.”

Since the virus hit the prison it has been on quarantine lockdown. Officials placed big tents on the baseball field to spread the residents out and socially distance them. Still, the virus proved fatal for 29 people at the prison, including one staff member. Pulido knew that staff member and got emotional about the loss of such a good man.

“When I look back, he was the first officer who spoke to me when I got to West Block. Officer Polanco’s death hit me hard because he was one of the good ones,” Pulido said sadly.

San Quentin, known as “The Q,” has many different varieties of sports to
watch when it’s functioning at normal capacity. Many professional teams from the outside bring in volunteers to compete in friendly games with the incarcerated residents.

QBall, the documentary

Defending champions Golden State Warriors visit the prison annually to play the SQ Warriors in a competitive series. The SQ Warriors beat the champs front office in the last series they played, which was featured
in a documentary produced by then Warriors superstar Kevin Durant.

The commentator for QBall was San Quentin’s own sports announcer, Aaron “Showtime” Taylor. Taylor called the plays and kept the game moving at a fast pace that reminded many of a true legend, sports announcer Howard Cosell. “I miss that the most,” Taylor said humbly. “Calling the games and seeing the players’ faces.”

Taylor explained the impact of the absence of sports and what it means to those who were involved. “Since the sports programs have been gone, I see the men not as excited as they were around here when we had sports on the yard,” he said. “Sports are the way men get to express themselves.
They would break their necks to show up for practices and the games. It means a lot to them to be able to play sports. It’s therapeutic.”

Taylor spent 26 plus years in prison and is now returned to society, where he vowed to continue showcasing his skills in media broadcasting.

Cuevas was a Q-Ball star and then contracted COVID-19 during the pandemic, but the mental depression from quarantines, lack of physical exercise and being frustrated didn’t bother him as much as this: “COVID
tore down my momentum of being able to use my prosocial skills,” Cuevas said. “Before COVID, sports was a way of recreation, community building, mentoring and teaching each other communication skills.”

The Q has other sports that also were used in the community to achieve the things Cuevas mentioned. It had soccer, hard and soft baseball, tennis, flag football, another basketball team called the SQ Kings and the 1000 Mile running club. There is no easy fix for getting out of this crisis and back to normal, but Cuevas has an idea that he thinks would be at least a way for sports to open up in some sort of capacity.

“Idealistically we’re all safe to a degree because we’re all isolated. We don’t
have to worry about the virus unless the staff brings it in. So the prison should put the staff all in a bubble and they should rotate and that would be a start,” Cuevas humorously concluded.

Youth Coaches Told Why They Are So Important

May 10, 2020 by Juan Haines

A team of prisoners met with youth coaches from the San Francisco Bay Area in San Quentin’s Protestant Chapel on Feb. 28. They talked about young people’s understanding of masculinity and the role coaches play in their lives.

Coaching4Life aims to show coaches how to maximize the impact they have on young athletes.

“We believe that youth coaches are the most influential people in their lives,” said Coaching4Life facilitator Brandon Terrell. “You may think that it’s the job of the parents, but 20 million kids are growing up without a father. I’m one of them.” He added, “Sports are in the perfect position to show young boys how to serve others and be committed to a cause bigger than themselves.”

Terrell went on to say that 92% of high school dropouts didn’t play sports, while 95% of Fortune 500 executives played high school sports and gave credit to their sports experience for their successes in life.

Coaching4Life was a one-day workshop that discussed how the definition of “man” changed since childhood, the wide range of teachings that coaches impart on youth, how to teach masculinity and “The Man Box.” The workshop also focused on defining success.

“I loved growing up in The Man Box,” Ronald Carter said. “I got picked first.”

Carter talked about the respect he gained by putting on the “tough guy” persona and how being called the wrong name, like sissy or chump, was serious business.

“If you call me one of those names, I’d go off. I’d want to fight,” Carter said. “Those names take us out of the box.”

Carter went on to talk about how maturity shifted his perspective about masculinity. Today, he says, he’s on a mission to help younger athletes.

“Show me the man you honor, and I’ll show you the man you want to be,” Carter said.

The workshop participants formed small groups to discuss each topic.

Some participants defined success as “being able to ask for help without being ashamed or to say that I love my family.” Others, “setting goals and seeing them through,” “being a positive influence,” “being happy and in a healthy relationship,” and understanding that “coaches are teachers and kids are sponges,” as well as, “coaches are authority figures that young athletes look up to.”

Kevin Sample, one of the facilitators, talked about the time coaches spend with young athletes.

“Each day my mother got 10 minutes with me, that same day my coach got four hours,” Sample said. “So, having coaches that teach life skills is important.”

Sample talked about how young kids pay attention to athletes and model the behavior they see.

He then challenged the audience to connect with the children in order “to change the world,” adding, “Our biggest problem is that we hide our brokenness from children.”

What is success? he asked. “Remember that children just don’t know— help our kids, heal their brokenness.”

The Coaching4Life facilitators have 266 years combined incarceration experience—the youngest, Juan Navarro, 33 years old, has been incarcerated for nine years.

“Nothing like this is happening in any other prison,” said Dwight Kennedy. “The volunteers could be doing something different, but they choose to come and do this.”

Looking at 2020 and beyond

March 12, 2020 by Aaron Taylor

All Madden Team celebrates closing prayer lead by volunteer Andre Jackson

It’s a new year, the start of a new decade, and where is San Quentin sports going?

During the month of February, there were tryouts for the San Quentin A’s, Kings and Warriors. These are some of the teams that represent the prison and, in doing so, help to build public interest in the CDCR from a recreational perspective.

The 1000 Mile Track Club is starting the marathon season as well, and in mentioning them, I’m thinking about the numerous documentaries and movies that have been filmed about sports programs at The Q.

All this indicates that in this new year, this new decade, we need to start taking involvement in sporting activities seriously as a part of the overall rehabilitation process. When a person goes before the Board of Parole Commissioners, voluntary participation in sports needs to be considered as part of a person’s inner journey to healing during their incarceration.

Not every person that suits up for sporting events at The Q will go before the Board of Parole in order to go home. Many of the young people with a determinate sentence get involved just to stay away from other activities on the yard.

However, for the person who waits two to five years to get into some of the upper echelon self-help groups, then take what they learn in those groups and put it into practice during a sporting event (which often involves participation with outside visitors) this is putting conflict resolution skills immediately into action. It’s definitely part of the rehabilitation process.

From creating season schedules, to team tryouts, to dealing with the various personalities that make up team sports, let’s not overlook the audio and visual recording, the sports broadcasting, the pre- and post-game interviews, the coordinating events to even the seating, everything that encompasses putting on an event inside the walls of San Quentin is done by the incarcerated members of SQ News Sports Department, SQ-TV and First Watch.

Why aren’t other institutions in CDCR doing this at their facilities?

What’s happening at The Q shouldn’t be an aberration; it should be the norm. Every institution should have a sports program that’s also partnered with a local college, semi-pro or even a professional team. These people should be invited inside of the facility to help aid in the rehabilitative process, to be involved in the inner healing of incarcerated individuals.

When released, we are coming back to neighborhoods and communities. We are coming back with a sense of purpose and a need to reconcile and help heal those communities. Sports is one healing path that reaches just about everyone, especially the youth.

In this new year, and at the start of this new decade, it’s time that we start looking at sports and rehabilitation in a whole new light.

—Aaron Taylor

Willie O’Ree: 1st Black NHL player

Willie Eldon O’Ree, (born Oct. 15, 1935) a former professional ice hockey player from Canada, is called the “Jackie Robinson of Ice Hockey” for having broken the color barrier in the National Hockey League, or NHL.

O’Ree, who played as a winger for the Boston Bruins, has said he met Robinson twice in his younger years. O’Ree was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in November 2018.

That same year, according to Wikipedia, the NHL instituted the annual Willie O’Ree Community Hero Award in his honor, to “recognize the individual who has worked to make a positive impact on his or her community, culture or society to make people better through hockey.”

During his career, O’Ree faced many of the same challenges that Robinson faced as the first man of color in a predominately White sport. Before O’Ree, Art Dorrington was the first Black player to sign an NHL contract with the New York Rangers organization, though Dorrington never played beyond the minor league level.

“Racist remarks were much worse in the U.S. cities than in Toronto and Montreal,” O’Ree attested. “Fans would yell, ‘Go back to the South’ and ‘How come you’re not picking cotton?’ Things like that. It didn’t bother me. I just wanted to be a hockey player, and if they couldn’t accept that fact, that was their problem, not mine.”

O’Ree helped make it possible for more Black players to join the league. After O’Ree’s stint in the NHL, there were no other Black players in the NHL until 1974, when the Washington Capitals drafted Mike Marson. Like O’Ree, Marson is Canadian by birth.

By the mid-2010s, there were 23 Black players in the NHL, including P. K. Subban, one of the league’s current most popular players. The NHL requires its players to enroll in a preseason diversity training seminar and punishes racially based verbal abuse with suspensions and fines.

Since 1998, O’Ree has been the NHL’s Diversity Ambassador. He travels across North America to schools and hockey programs to promote inclusion, dedication and confidence.

The NBA Championship and Stanley Cup Finals play during the same two-week period. Many sports enthusiasts inside prison watch both, exposing the incarcerated population to the NHL and helping grow its appeal.

Willie O’Ree: 1st Black NHL player

March 12, 2020 by Aaron Taylor

Willie Eldon O’Ree at Hall of Fame induction

O’Ree, who played as a winger for the Boston Bruins, has said he met Robinson twice in his younger years. O’Ree was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame https://www.hhof.com/ in November 2018.

That same year, according to Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_O%27Ree the NHL instituted the annual Willie O’Ree Community Hero Award in his honor, to “recognize the individual who has worked to make a positive impact on his or her community, culture or society to make people better through hockey.”

Since 1998, O’Ree has been the NHL’s Diversity Ambassador. He travels across North America to schools and hockey programs to promote inclusion, dedication and confidence.

San Quentin Kings hold tryouts for the 2020 season

March 12, 2020 by Aaron Taylor

San Quentin Kings logo

The 40 and Over San Quentin Kings held their annual tryouts to pick their team for the 2020 season.

After running drills and scrimmages against pick up teams made up of younger players who were watching the tryouts, head coach Orlando “Duck” Harris called the men to center court and announced this season’s roster.

Bryant Underwood, at age 35, made the cut.

“I thought because I was younger than these guys, it would be easy to make this team but it wasn’t. These OG’s got game and I see I still have something to learn from them. I’m ready for the challenge.”

Reginald Thorpe, another new player to make the team, had been reading about the Kings while housed in maximum security facilities. “I used to read the SQ News when I was at New Folsom on the level four yard, dreaming of getting to The Q and making either the Warriors or the Kings.” It was a long odyssey to reach The Q, but now Thorpe is fulfilling his aspirations. “I’m on the Kings and getting into the self-help programs. I’m healing my mind, body and spirit.”

Thorpe has earned the nickname “Saw” for his hardnosed defense and physical presence.

When asked what the goals are for the SQ Kings in 2020, Coach Harris was blunt.

“We’re looking to improve on last season’s record of 20-11. We do that, we’ll be doing great.”

Harris said that since he was going to focus most of his time in training for Transformative Justice Initiative https://tjcoalition.org/ – a group that trains people in the criminal justice reform field – he’s going to be turning over most of the coaching duties to Kings assistant coach, Ismael Freelon.

After the teams were announced, Jaryd “Deep Ball” Newton – who played in the 2019 season but didn’t make this seasons roster – spoke about press coverage.

“I only made the paper one time last season. My name was mentioned because I was tied with somebody else with 15 points. I wasn’t even the lead scorer in that game, but there was no other stats on me. It’s just not fair. I don’t understand what I have to do to get my name in the paper.”

The following is the San Quentin Kings 2020 Roster:

Thaddeus “Beast” Fleeton – 6’0 Power Forward/Center

DeSean “Silent Assassin” Nicholson – 6’1 ½ Power Forward

Jamal “Do It All” Harrison – 6’0 Guard/Forward

Gregory “G-Styles” Jones – 6’0 Shooting Guard

Tare “Cancun” Beltranchuc – 5’8 Point Guard

Oris “The Human Theme Song” Williams – 6’4 Point Forward

Bryant “The Baker” Underwood – 5’8 Guard

Gary “The Knife” Brown – 5’11 Shooting Guard/Small Forward

Rafael “Coach” Ceuvas – 6’1 Point Guard Derrick “Out Loud” Gray – 6’0 Guard/ Small Forward

Joshua “JB3” Burton – 5’7 Point Guard

Charles “Pookie” Sylvester – 5’10 Shooting Guard

Thomas “Mr.” Vaca – 6’2 Power Forward/Center

Reginald “Saw” Thorpe – 6’0 Forward

(Prison Sports Ministries, https://prisonsportsministries.org/which is the sponsor for the SQ Kings, Warriors, All Madden Flag Football, the Earthquakes soccer team and Hardtimers Softball, is a Christian based organization seeking to fellowship and spread the word of Christ, using sports as the vehicle to reach a broader audience within The Q’s incarcerated community. Only player points are kept as a statistic.)

NFL players identify an urgent need to transform the youth justice system

March 10, 2020 by steve brooks

“Youth of color are more likely to be targeted in the school-to-prison pipeline…”

Criminal justice reform has becomes a key issue in the 2020 presidential race, but some National Football League players say the candidates are not addressing the urgent need to transform the youth justice system.

“Our work with young people has made it clear that youth justice reform is critical to tackling mass incarceration and advancing equity,” Carl Davis and Anquan Boldin are quoted in the Des Moines Register in December of 2019.

Davis is a defensive tackle for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Boldin is a former wide receiver. As members of the player’s coalition, both men dedicate their time to working with youth and promoting both social and racial justice.

Davis and Boldin say the future of America requires someone with the vision and courage to transform the youth justice system.

Today more than 2,000,000 people are incarcerated in prison — a stark contrast to the less than 200,000 in the 1970s. According to a 2017 report by Vera Institute of Justice, the rise in the population was largely due to Criminologist John J. Dilulio’s 1995 prediction that there would be an explosion of juvenile super predators.

This prediction caused wide spread panic and caught the attention of then First Lady Hillary Clinton, ushering in a wave of intensified policing and harsher sentencing.

Over the past 20 years Dilulio’s prediction has been largely debunked as a myth. He retracted much of what he said, but a lot of damage was done. States like California locked up thousands of youth—mostly minorities.

“Youth of color are more likely to be targeted in the school-to-prison pipeline and to be punished more severely than their White peers, despite having the same rates of delinquent behavior,” Davis and Bolden wrote in the Register.

Too many youth are often sent to adult court and sentenced to prison where they face abuse, solitary confinement, and over use of restraints.

Davis and Boldin are of the opinion that presidential candidates should commit to reducing youth incarceration and closing youth prisons. They should also encourage, gubernatorial candidates, assembly persons and city councils to get involved.

Candidates should commit to removing young people from adult courts, jails and prisons which increase the likelihood they will re-offend. Federal authorities should also hold states accountable for using harmful practices like solitary confinement, say Davis and Bolden.

They say young people should be set-up for success upon re-entry. Their record should be sealed or expunged. They should be provided educational and employment opportunities, and youth voter registration should be encouraged. Young people and their families should have a seat at the table during policy decisions so they can use their personal experience to help others.

“In our work with children and youth, we have seen firsthand just how much they have to offer their families, their communities, and this nation,” Davis and Boldin are quoted. “It’s a win for all of us when we give them a real shot at success.”

Dear Kobe,

March 10, 2020 by Aaron Taylor

Kobe, the Black Mamba and Gianna, the Mambacita

Dear Kobe,

You don’t know me. I’m a fan speaking for fans that asked me to send this letter to you from The Q. Here, there are Laker fans that love and miss you, alongside Warrior fans that respected you. We are going to miss what you meant to the game of basketball.

I’ve watched you since you came into the NBA in 1996. I wondered what type of player you’d become, coming straight from high school.

It didn’t take long for me to see what you were capable of doing with the ball in your hands.

I was speechless.

I saw in you Michael Jordan, who was an idol for both of us.

I saw that deadly, killer look in your eyes. I saw that same look in Jordan’s eyes when he stepped on the court. The look that makes your competitors lowers their gaze.

The look that says, “Gimme the rock and watch what I do with it.”

The look that says, “None of y’all can stop me, I’m destined for this.”

The look that says, “I dare you to try and stop me. Step up and see if you can do it.”

The look that says, “Nothing you do in this game will stop me from achieving what I am destined for: Greatness.”

The look that says, “The Champ is here!”

I heard ex-NBA player Bruce Bowen, a legend for his defensive skills, say on the radio the day you left us, “At first, I didn’t like Kobe. I thought he was arrogant, entitled. But, I came to respect him. He brought out the best defender in me and he still went a step higher.”

Pundits are trying to compare you and LeBron James. But LeBron didn’t see it that way.

LeBron said, “I’m happy to be in any conversation with Kobe Bryant, just humbled. He’s a five-time NBA champion. The man has two jerseys hanging up in the Staples Center. To pass him up on the scoring list? It’s surreal. To be compared to him? That’s huge. I play in the house that Kobe built. I’m blessed to be in that conversation.”

LeBron said that on Saturday Jan. 25, 2020. The night he passed you to become the third highest scorer in NBA history.

And we read the tweet you sent him that night, congratulating him. Telling him to keep striving for greatness.

The night before you left us all here, wondering, “God, why him and Gigi? Why Kobe and his daughter? Why the other people on that flight? Why them?”

I do play-by-play here at The Q for the annual Golden State Warriors versus SQ Warriors games. I’ve called a game with Bay Area sports guru Larry Biel and current Laker Javelle McGee.

I’ve called thousands of games over the past 26 years inside of CDCR.

I wish I had the opportunity to do play-by-play for just one of your games.

You allowed a middle-aged, out of shape, former athlete to dream bigger than myself.

That was what you brought out in me.

Kobe rising up well above the rim to slam it down

Rise in Power, Kobe Bean Bryant. We’re going to miss what you did on the court. But we’re also going to miss what you were going to do with life after basketball.

Now, you and Gianna — the Mambacita — can play ball together in the clouds. You can teach her your signature fall-away, while we watch for the next person to step up and fill your shoes.

Players like you come around only once in a generation.

You were the Black Mamba, the deadliest assassin on the court.

During your playing years, people called you arrogant.

After you stepped off the court, they called you another name: mentor.

I saw fans crying for you and Gianna; fans all over the world chanting your name:

“KOBE! KOBE! KOBE!”

You did it. You became The G.O.A.T. The Greatest Of All Time.

I just wish you didn’t have to leave us to do it.

Thank you for being you. We are all going to miss you.

Peace, my brother.

Aaron Showtime Taylor

The Voice of SQ Sports

#thankyouKobe #BlackMamba #8theGreat #deucefour #LakerGOAT #Mambacita #girldad

The Q reacts to Kobe Bryant news

March 10, 2020 by San Quentin News Contributer

Kobe Memorial inside the Los Angeles Staples Center

The death of Kobe Bryant and his 13 year old daughter Gianna – along with the other seven people on that fatal crash – has had an impact on the San Quentin community as whole.

Many within the population wanted to offer their condolences and say a few words about the man known as “The Black Mamba.”

“Kobe is the Jordan of my generation, someone I idolized growing up. After I watched him on TV, I would go outside and emulate his moves on my brothers,” said Montrell McDuffie, an All-Madden Flag Football player housed at The Q.

James Metters stated, “Kobe’s death is a wakeup call that death can happen to anybody, at any time, poor or rich. That we should live everyday happy and healthy.”

Salvador Clement from Southern California offered his thoughts. “It’s a big lost for his wife. She lost two persons that she loved. What makes it worse is the media is still talking about the accident. I send my prayers to the family of those who lost their lives.”

Greg Eskridge, one of the founders of KALW 91.7 and a former SQ Warriors power forward, said “I’m a diehard Laker fan, and what Kobe did for the Lakers organization and city of Los Angeles, for the NBA – at home and internationally – as well as being the type of family man and a father? My heart is raw in its emotion for his family and children. We lost some great role models in that helicopter crash.”

Kobe vs Washington Wizards in D.C., February 3, 2007.

Trevor Byrd, a former SQ Kings, Giants and A’s player said, “I’m a post playing career Kobe fan. What he did for the league away from the game, he was huge in China. He is a global icon, on the level with Jordan, Magic and Barkley when you think of it.”

Many of the men here at The Q spoke about Kobe as a father.

Vaughn Reid offered, “I believe that his demonstration of fatherhood was very good. I recognize him to be completely involved in the development and nurture of his girls.”

Golden State Warrior fans at The Q had kind words and memories as well.

Wilson “Well Built Will” Nguyen, guard for the SQ Warriors, stated “He was one of the greatest. What’s really sad for me is that his daughter won’t get a chance to live a long life. That has got to hurt.”

“The Black Mamba is in the top 5 of the NBA’s all-time greats, he was a bad boy,” Wayne Tariq Mobley said enthusiastically. Mobley is a Bulls fan.

“Kobe’s untimely passing felt like a close and personal death that deeply moved my spiritual consciousness,” a New Orleans Pelicans fan stated.

Joshua Griffin stated “Baseball is my sport, but I definitely know the Black Mamba.” After a pause, he offered an afterthought: “Legends never die.”

Whether one was a Kobe fan, or a basketball fan, it’s clear that the impact of the man that Magic Johnson has deemed “The Greatest Laker Of All Time” has transcended his sport and was revered as a global icon.

Dennis Jefferson was reflective in his thoughts. “Kobe said in an interview that basketball is what he does, no who he is. This affected me because it made me realize that I’m bigger than the crime I committed.”

—By Contributing Writers

League MVP listens to the incarcerated

March 10, 2020 by Joe Garcia

Giannis Antetokounmpo Coaches Play For Justice participants

The Milwaukee Bucks and league MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo entered a Wisconsin prison facility with a lot more at stake than just basketball. They came to listen to the voices and stories of the incarcerated.

Organized by film producer Scott Budnick and the NBA’s Play For Justice initiative, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers and Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes joined members of the Bucks organization inside the Racine Correctional Institution Dec. 17.

“The whole point is to humanize the people behind bars,” said Budnick, founder of the Anti-Recidivism Coalition (ARC) and producer of Just Mercy. “That’s how we get the voters and legislators to change laws.

“It was great to see the governor suit up and play ball with the men in prison.”

NBA Great LeBron James shares a moment with Michael B. Jordan

Gathering first in a prisoner visiting room, everyone sat in a healing circle with incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals for a heartfelt discussion on criminal justice, prison life, rehabilitation and hope.

“Just coming here, listening to them, going through what they have to say and listening to the pain they have—it’s amazing,” said Antetokounmpo in a television interview with WTMJ Milwaukee.

After sharing their personal stories, participants formed teams to play a scrimmage game coached by Antetokounmpo and his Bucks teammates Sterling Brown, Pat Connaughton, George Hill, Kyle Korver and D. J. Wilson.

The NBA players got to turn the tables and draw up plays for their own Head Coach Mike Budenholzer, who played on the all-inclusive squads along with other Bucks coaching staff.

“We care about you,” Budenholzer said to Racine’s incarcerated community. “We’re waiting for you when you get out,” reported the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Gov. Evers said the Play For Justice event “shines a light around issues of criminal justice reform.”

One participant, Tommy Brown, was about to be released from Racine three days later, after spending almost 30 years behind bars for an armed robbery conviction.

“It will be strange, almost like stepping out of a spaceship to a new dimension,” he said.

Another man, Donald Jackson, entered the criminal system at age 12. “Today I’m thankful,” he said to everyone around him in the circle. “I see a lot of idols here. Man, it’s overpowering.”

Milwaukee Bucks guards at the Play For Justice Event

Antetokounmpo opened up about his own misdeeds as a youth, things he admitted he was not proud of. He shared insight into his own family history and memories of his late father.

“Even when you’re still in here, you want to do better,” said Antetokounmpo.

Wesley Griffin won’t be released for several more years, but he felt moved by Antetokounmpo’s words. “We’re human beings, and everyone makes mistakes,” said Griffin.

“Sitting down in a circle like this, you stop judging. You start seeing how it is,” said NBA champion Korver, before speaking directly to one man, who revealed his own painful struggles with incarceration.

“I’m sorry, brother. I’m sorry,” Korver told him. “I don’t know what the answer is. We have to keep sharing our stories.”

Hill, another NBA champ, told the circle about his own rough childhood on the streets of Indianapolis before saying, “You’re not a monster. You’re a human. You were going down the wrong path at the wrong time.”

“I’m sorry, brother. I’m sorry,” Korver told him. “I don’t know what the answer is. We have to keep sharing our stories.”

Many of the participants talked about the aspects of outside life that their incarceration deprived them of—missed holidays with their families, graduations they couldn’t attend, children they couldn’t watch grow up.

John Casper shared how his son had asked him, “When are you coming home?”

“I don’t have an answer to that,” said Casper.

“For me it has always been important to see the good in people,” said guard Connaughton. “I believe in second chances.”

Bucks guard Brown described the problems with his arrest in January 2018 that resulted in his current lawsuit against the city of Milwaukee for excessive use of force and civil rights violations.

“A lot of work needs to be done with the criminal justice system,” said Brown. “I need to do my part.”

Play For Justice also sponsored events where the Sacramento Kings entered Folsom State Prison and where the Los Angeles Lakers and LeBron James welcomed youth offenders from the Ventura Correctional Facility into their practice gym.

Budnick said he has high hopes to bring WNBA organizations and Play For Justice to a women’s facility in California.

One formerly incarcerated individual, Jacob Brevard, participated in both the Folsom and Racine dialogues.

“This is a university,” he said. “You can learn a lot here.”

Budnick launched Play For Justice in partnership with the Represent Justice Campaign and the film Just Mercy. The movie stars Jamie Foxx in the true story of a wrongfully convicted innocent man on Alabama’s Death Row.

Michael B. Jordan and Brie Larson co-star as Bryan Stevenson and Eva Ainsley, the legal team that worked to free Just Mercy’s real-life protagonist, Walter McMillian.

“It’s going great right now,” said Budnick in late January when Just Mercy was in its third week of national release. “It’s all about showing folks the injustice in the criminal justice system.

“Governors, district attorneys—we’re making sure all kinds of prosecutors and stakeholders see this film.”