Houston Rockets superstar Russell Westbrook and San Antonio Spurs guard DeMar DeRozan attended a march Sunday in Compton, California, to support the Black Lives Matter movement.
Both Westbrook and DeRozan are from the Los Angeles area, and each has spent time there of late amid the NBA’s ongoing COVID-19 hiatus.
Westbrook’s speech to those in attendance included these closing words of advice, followed by a call for a moment of silence.
Continue to fight for one another. Continue to lift each other up. … Continue to protect your own, protect your team, protect your family. In times like this, we need to stick together. Put a fist up.
With the exception of his brief public remarks, the 31-year-old Westbrook wore a face covering to assist with virus protection.
With the crowd silent and fists raised, Westbrook said:
For our lost ones. For their families. For their struggles.
Protests have taken place throughout the United States for nearly two weeks after the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after a white police officer kneeled on his neck for over eight minutes during an arrest in Minneapolis. The latest information is available at usatoday.com.
Memorial and funeral services for Floyd are scheduled for Monday and Tuesday in Houston, which is where he grew up.
