You missed a heck of a game Saturday.
Kentucky knelt, then rolled. The Cats ripped Florida 76-58 in Gainesville. It was their third straight win. It was their best win of the season. They shot 55.8 percent from the floor. They dealt a sterling 18 assists. They were balanced. Eight players scored. No one scored more than 13 points. They were 6-for-13 from three-point range, 12-for-13 from the foul line.
Yet a slice of Big Blue Nation chose to ignore the triumph. Or so it said. After the “Kentucky Basketball” social media account posted a picture of the team kneeling for the national anthem, some fans claimed to have promptly turned their televisions off. They were offended, they said. They were done with this team, they said. Stick to sports, they said.
These Cats are not sticking to sports, nor should they. Given the events of the past week, it’s no surprise that Kentucky basketball team wanted to make a statement Saturday. It’s the same team that made the preseason Black Lives Matter video. It’s the same team that wears a “unity” patch on its uniform. It’s a team of young men, primarily Black men, paying attention to what is going on in the world, who want to be more than just basketball players. That’s a worthy goal.
It’s a communal one, as well. John Calipari said that on the trip to Gainesville, his team had discussed the topics of the day, settled on how best to use its voice, then brought the idea to the head coach. He asked why. They explained why. The players asked the coaches to join them. So the coaches did.
“There’s a lot of stuff that goes on every day we knelt for,” Keion Brooks, part of a tribunal of team leaders along with Olivier Sarr and Davion Mintz. “(What happened at) the Capitol had a part to play in it, but there are a lot of things that we don’t see that are unacceptable.”
The players weren’t protesting the national anthem. They were making a statement during the national anthem. It was a statement of both togetherness and resistance about the issues that are dividing the country, issues that led us to witnessing something that happened at our own Capitol on Wednesday that we never thought we would see. But we did.
“I think what we did speaks for itself,” Mintz said on Saturday.
So did their performance on the floor. UK failed to reach double-digit assists in five of its previous nine games. It was credited with 18 Saturday. Sharing is caring. Better passes made for better shots. Better shots made for a better shooting percentage. Remember, this is the same team that had not a single assist in the second half of its Nov. 29 loss to Richmond.
Oh, but it’s not the same team. Keion Brooks is back. A leg injury caused the sophomore to miss the season’s first nine games. He celebrated his return with 12 points, six rebounds and four assists in 25 minutes. Truth is, Brooks had been contributing all along. During that 1-6 start, he had a message for his young teammates: “Calm down, we’re going to be OK.”
Said Mintz: “I said before, ‘Stay patient with us. Let us figure things out.’ We knew it would all come together.”
Tuesday brings a big test. Alabama visits Rupp Arena. The Tide is rolling. Nate Oats club is 4-0 in the SEC. Bama beat No. 7 Tennessee 71-63 in Knoxville last week. It outlasted archrival Auburn at Auburn 94-90 on Saturday. The school would love nothing better than to defeat Ohio State for the national football championship on Monday, then knock off Kentucky in basketball on Tuesday.
“That’s going to be hard game for us,” Calipari said Saturday. “But again, let’s enjoy this. Let’s enjoy these kids. Let’s enjoy their growth.”
Let’s enjoy their growth on and off the court. Too bad some in the (former?) fan base aren’t sticking around to see it. They’re missing something worth watching.
