Stan Van Gundy voices support for player protest in TIME op-ed

Stan Van Gundy wrote an article for TIME Magazine that was published Tuesday, titled “Athletes Who Protest Are Patriots.” It’s a thoroughly well-researched, well-supported piece that voices Van Gundy’s support for players who protest systemic inequalities in the United States, especially NFL players who have been the most prominent protestors.

You can read the full piece here.

This is not the first time that Van Gundy has voiced political opinions. One day after the election, Van Gundy questioned how his country could elect someone “openly and brazenly racist and misogynistic and ethnic-centric.” On media day, he decried the concept of “sticking to sports,” and he spoke out against Trump again last month.

In his TIME article, Van Gundy said that he was writing this story because he believes he has “an obligation to speak out and support, in any way possible, those brave and patriotic athletes who are working to bring change to our country.” He also references NBA players and head coaches Steve Kerr and Gregg Popovich who have all spoken publicly about political issues.

Earlier this year, Van Gundy invited an author, Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, to speak to the Pistons.

After reading the book Tears We Cannot Stop; A Sermon to White America, I invited its author, the acclaimed scholar and expert on race Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, to come talk to our team. He discussed the difference between nationalism and patriotism, and it stuck with me. Nationalism, he said, is supporting your country no matter what, right or wrong. Patriotism, on the other hand, is caring so deeply about your country that you take it as your duty to hold it accountable to its highest values and to fight to make it the very best it can be. Under this definition, these athletes and coaches are role models of American patriotism.

Van Gundy also speaks about the precedent that American athletes have to protest and speak out against inequalities, something that started long before Colin Kaepernick knelt during the national anthem during San Francisco 49ers games last season.

Finally, Van Gundy concludes with by highlighting The Players Coalition, a group of about 40 NFL players — led by Malcolm Jenkins and Anquan Boldin — who are directly advocating behind the scenes to political leaders for criminal justice reform and other changes.

As Van Gundy’s article outlines in even further detail, The Players Coalition supports ameliorating harsh sentencing guidelines and ending mandatory-minimum sentences, enacting clean-slate laws, eliminating cash bail, reforming juvenile justice, and ending police brutality and racial bias in police departments.

In conclusion, Van Gundy says that these athletes “are working to make America live up to its stated ideals,” and that “we should all join them in ensuring their collective voice is heard.”