Metta World Peace (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Metta World Peace explains why he wouldn’t kneel if he were still playing.
Metta World Peace discuses the kneeling protest.
Metta World Peace, NBA’s 2004 Defensive Player of the Year and 2010 NBA Champion with the Los Angeles Lakers, weighs in on Jonathan Isaac. Isaac was the only player on the Orlando Magic standing when everyone else on the team decided to kneel during the National Anthem on Friday. The 2004 NBA All Star, formerly known as Ron Artest, told TMZ that he would not kneel either.
”I think everybody deserves to have an opinion. You know, me personally, I wouldn’t kneel either. Ain’t no way I’m not kneeling to anyone,” he told TMZ. “I’m not kneeling to someone I don’t like. I’m not kneeling for forgiveness.”
When it comes to Isaac, Metta is in support that Isaac is entitled to his own opinion and making his own decision. People should do what they feel is right, Metta said. As Metta supports the Black Lives Matter movement, he does appreciate the players who are kneeling. However, Metta would simply protest in another form. For him, taking a knee is symbolic to another action.
”I just wouldn’t kneel because if I kneel I am submitting to my enemy. I would never kneel to my enemy,” Metta said.
When it comes to the Black Lives Matter movement, Metta and his son have been seen protesting in the wake of George Floyd’s police involved death in May.
Kneeling during the National Anthem was a silent protest former NFL player Colin Kaepernick started his final year in the league in 2016. This was Kaepernick’s form of standing up for black people and other people of color who are victim to police brutality and racism as a whole. Recently, members of the NBA, WNBA and MLB have participated in protests to bring awareness to racial injustice and systemic racism in the United States.