Lakers Respond to President Trump's Comments, Support NFL Protests

Monday's Media Day for the Los Angeles Lakers arrived at an odd time in American sports, as the President of the United States had publicly referred to NFL players protesting for racial equality and social change during the national anthem as "sons of bitches" and calling for NFL owners to fire those players only days earlier.

After expanded protests in the NFL on Sunday, Monday's Media Day in El Segundo inevitably featured LA Lakers players and staff answering questions on their thoughts on the president's divisive comments that had expanded the protests across the sports world--also bleeding into Major League Baseball on Saturday for the first time. As members of the fraternity of athletes and sports teams, the Lakers had an opinion.

"We have bigger problems in our country than to worry about people who are exercising their freedom of speech, and North Korea is a big problem, job creation is a big major problem, making sure our schools are better, and I can just keep on going," Lakers president of basketball operations Earvin "Magic" Johnson verbally shook his head as he spoke on the subject. "So, these are the things (President Donald Trump) should be concentrating on, and we elected him to concentrate on those things."

Continuing his thought, Johnson added, "What I'm disappointed at is that these young men who are saying, 'Hey, there's problems in our community, in urban America and nobody's looking to address these issues and problems.' That's what Colin [Kaepernick] really was not standing up for the national anthem for."

As a former athlete with a history of giving back to communities in need, perhaps few are more qualified that Johnson to speak on the subject that has dominated sports headlines across the nation in recent days. In truth, the back-and-forth between the president and NBA stars like LeBron James and Stephen Curry has blown up beyond sports and jumped from the back pages to the front pages across the nation.

Johnson continued, "I think all these players are exercising their right, and I think the president should be really focusing on the issues at hand of our country and the people who live in our beautiful country and not those who are saying, 'Hey, this is my right. This is my right to do what I'm doing.'"

Johnson concluded his public thoughts on the matter by sharing his support for the response from the sports world: "I was so proud of the owners and coaches for backing the players in the NFL, and I was also proud of all of us from Commissioner Adam Silver and all the teams that backed Golden State because it was important to say that, 'Hey, we back Golden State 150 percent.'"

While Johnson's words may carry the most weight given his history as a player, his current position with the Lakers and his relentless efforts in helping communities in need, words from Lakers general Rob Pelinka, Lakers coach Luke Walton and multiple players echoed the same sentiments that Johnson expressed.

"I think all of us have to think long and hard about these issues," Pelinka said. "And what we stand for here is we stand for the absolute protection of the first amendment rights that the constitution gives all of us as individuals and as citizens of this great democracy."

The Lakers' G.M. added, "We want to create a forum here where players can express their views and respectfully be listened to and heard, and that's a culture that we want to develop here."

A year ago, the Lakers expressed their support for the "Take a Knee" protests by locking arms during the national anthem before games. Whether that action continues or whether the team wants to do something different remains to be seen, as the topic will be discussed in the coming days.

"Anything that's ever going on in this world or this country that affects us, I think it's good to sit down as a team," Walton said. "We try to preach to our players that we're a family and that have each other's backs. We have rules that we protect each other, so it's important to talk about things like this."

Walton continued, "Now, we'll discuss as a team what, if any of our guys want to do, during the national anthem or anything like that. Individually, obviously, they're allowed to think and say what they feel. It's a sensitive subject, and I think it's been great to see how much unity and how this has brought a lot of the sports world, at least, together in trying to make our country a better place."

While players like Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Andrew Bogut and others also expressed their individual views against the president's attacks, the team maintained that the players would decide on how to best respond after meeting as a unit and having an open dialogue within the team structure.

After all, Monday was the first time the new Lakers' team had assembled for the new season, and Media Day is a busy day full of activities that include taking pictures, giving interviews, recording video messages and walking through a gauntlet of team mandated activities.

Still, the attitudes of team leaders like Johnson, Pelinka and Walton suggested that the Lakers' organization will support players if they wish to take any actions to join in solidarity with their protesting NFL counterparts. Further, judging by the tone of the comments from the organization and players on Monday, one should expect that the Lakers will likely take part in some form of social protest in support of the movement that is currently dominating the sports world.