The Warriors, or at least some of them, may be taking a detour to Saturday night's game in Sacramento, Calif.
Former Warrior Matt Barnes, a native of Sacramento, asked his former teammates _ and the Sacramento Kings _ to join him at a noon rally at Cesar Chavez Park. There community leaders will once again ask for accountability from city authorities related to the March 18 fatal shooting of Stephon Clark, a 22-year-old black man, by two Sacramento police officers.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr said at practice on Friday that his players are free to participate in the rally.
The Warriors are scheduled to play the Kings at the Golden 1 Center at 7 p.m.
"I know the Warriors and the Kings play that night," Barnes, now retired, told USA Today after Clark's funeral Thursday, "so I'm going to try to talk to both sides and, you know, the game at this point kind of doesn't really matter. The (playoff) positions are already set, so I'm hoping (the Warriors) can come out and support."
"We definitely want to support it," Kevin Durant said. "Obviously, we have a job to do. We definitely want to support Matt and everybody that's trying make a stand. My main focus is to go out there and play the game. But I definitely support what's going on. It's great that Matt Barnes is doing that for his hometown. It hit close to home for him. I'm sure it's a difficult situation for everybody involved."
"We'll probably talk about it on the bus tonight if we have time," Klay Thompson said at Friday's practice in Oakland. "It's just tough on a game day. But it's great to see what the Kings did as far as rallying around the community. Especially to a population that really feels oppressed. Matt is a very vocal guy. He really cares about what's going on in the community, especially him being from Sacramento. I know he's going to do big things up there."
The shooting has sparked an outcry in Sacramento. Clark was shot by officers who believed he had a gun. An investigation revealed Clark had a cell phone in his hand when he was killed in his grandmother's backyard. Protesters blocked entry to the Kings arena for two home games after the shooting, causing delays and preventing some fans from entering.
