PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The sports world reacted strongly to a Kentucky grand jury’s decision not to charge any police officers in the death of Breonna Taylor.
For months, professional athletes have been vocal about justice being served in the case. Wednesday’s news upset many.
"I think it’s some BS that they let that go down like that," Miami Heat All-Star and former Sixer Jimmy Butler said. "I think every body knows what’s supposed to happen. I think every body knew what was gonna happen, unfortunately, but that’s our country for you, to tell you the truth."
He continued, "It’s always much bigger than a sport, so much more bigger than basketball, because that could be anybody. That could be me, that could be any African American."
"It’s not justice," Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said. "The $12 million looks like such a ridiculously empty payoff."
"It’s crazy that somebody killed somebody and it gets the same charge of somebody that uses an unauthorized credit card," Heat center Bam Adebayo said.
Adebayo says he and others will keep fighting for Taylor.
"She’s dead. Somebody killed her. At the end of the day, you need justice for that."
LeBron James tweeted, in part, "I’m devastated, hurt, sad, mad!”
James added that he wasn’t surprised by the verdict.
"Justice was met for her neighbors apartment walls and not her beautiful life."
James was referring to the charges of wanton reckless endangerment one of the three officers involved will face for firing shots into a neighboring apartment when Taylor was killed in her home.
James' Los Angeles Lakers teammate Danny Green said, "I think we’re being heard, but obviously the goals we are trying to achieve, we’re very far away from."
Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr called the decision demoralizing.
"I just keep thinking about the generation of American kids of any color," Kerr said. "Is this the way we wanna raise them? Is this the country we wanna live in? There’s just so much violence."
Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone says he still hopes things can change.
"I know that we’ve been using our platform down here to try to bring about education and a voice, and a lot of players on our team, especially, have also spoken out on justice for Breonna Taylor, and we have not gotten that justice, and that’s a shame," Malone said.
And Eagles safety Rodney McLeod tweeted in part that his heart is with the Taylor family, adding that the system failed African Americans again.