Phoenix Suns don ‘I Can’t Breathe’ T-shirts before game vs. Milwaukee Bucks
Dec 16, 2014, 3:07 PM | Updated: 3:19 pm
As the Phoenix Suns prepared for their home game against the Milwaukee Bucks Monday night, their pregame attire looked a little different.
The Suns came to the the court wearing “I Can’t Breathe” T-shirts.
The shirts have become a show of protest over the killing of Eric Garner in Staten Island, NY last July. Garner, who was being arrested for selling loose, untaxed cigarettes on the street, was wrestled to the ground and put in a grappling hold by officer Daniel Pantaleo. While on the ground, he repeated the phrase “I can’t breathe” 11 times. Garner died hours later.
A grand jury in New York decided not to indict Pantaleo, sparking protests all over the country.
Several other NBA teams, including the Los Angeles Lakers and Cleveland Cavaliers, have worn the same shirts before games.
“We just wanted to show our support,” Suns guard Isaiah Thomas said. “We wanted to show we are a team and we do support what’s going on in the world today.
“I think you see a few teams doing it and we felt like we should come together as a team and support it just like they are.”
Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls was one of the first to wear the shirt, and that drew a response from NBA commissioner Adam Silver.
“I respect Derrick Rose and all of our players for voicing their personal views on important issues but my preference would be for players to abide by our on-court attire rules,” he told Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.
