Blackout Tuesday: LeBron James, Steph Curry among NBA stars supporting #BlackLivesMatter

George Floyd's death has sparked a wave of protests throughout the USA, some of which have also turned violent. NBA player and teams have also been supporting the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement and have also participated in 'Blackout Tuesday'. LeBron James, Steph Curry, Trae Young are few of the NBA players who posted in support of Blackout Tuesday along with their teams. 

Blackout Tuesday was an action held to collectively protest against the brutal deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor. Business supporting Black Tuesday abstained from releasing new content, while some outlets had scheduled programming for 8 minutes and 46 seconds – the length of time Derek Chauvin's knee was pressed against George Floyd's knee. 

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NBA community offers their support for Blackout Tuesday

Like everyone supporting the movement, James and Curry added blank black photos on their Instagram. James also added hashtags which read #blackouttuesday and #BLM. Apart from Curry and James, Luka Doncic, Trae Young, Pau Gasol, Damian Lillard, Chris Bosh, Draymond Green, Ben Simmons, Karl-Anthony Towns, Chris Paul, Ja Morant, Carmelo Anthony and Danny Green are among the NBA players who chose to voice their opinion on the movement. Players also posted individual posts and videos addressing the movement, acknowledging the need to speak up and seek justice for the unjust murder.

Late NBA legend Kobe Bryant's wife Vanessa Bryant also joined the movement. Head coaches like Steve Kerr and Gregg Popovich have also been vocal about the BLM movement. The NBA's official Instagram also posted an empty black photo.

All 30 NBA teams have also shown a united front for the #BlackLivesMatter movement and have supported the Blackout Tuesday movement. Apart from current players, retired NBA stars like Matt Barnes, Dwyane Wade and Steve Nash have also participated for Blackout Tuesday. This includes Stephen Jackson, who has been extremely vocal about the movement. Jackson was close to Floyd and considered him his 'twin brother'. 

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NBA players like LeBron James, Steph Curry posting in support of Blackout Tuesday

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Stephen Jackson on #BlackLivesMatter

NBA and the teams supporting Blackout Tuesday

NBA fans have voiced their appreciation for the league for openly supporting the BLM movement and collectively participating for Blackout Tuesday. Some fans called out the Knicks after they made their post, as they were the only NBA team who had not yet released an official statement about George Floyd's death and the protests in the USA. After constant criticism on Twitter, owner Jim Dolan made a statement on the matter and the Knicks made a post in support of the movement.

Fans were unhappy about their post as they needed criticism to do so. Some people were against the Blackout Tuesday itself, stating that the movement is not helping anyone as people need to be aware of exactly what was happening. Twitter users also argued that the black photo was also rendering a well-intentioned and informative post of no use. 

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