San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick was initially viewed as being on an island when he was first noticed sitting during the National Anthem. However, in the two weeks since, more and more athletes (and others) are showing support. It remains to be seen how many will join Kaepernick, Eric Reid, Jeremy Lane, and Megan Rapinoe in taking a seat, but vocal support seems to be growing.
Golden State Warriors guard Steph Curry recently took part in a wide ranging interview with CNBC’s Sarah Eisen. Curry is headed to China for a marketing tour with Under Armour, and the interview focused primarily on the Chinese market and Under Armour. However, at one point, Eisen asked Curry if he has an opinion on Kaepernick (video).
EISEN: Do you have an opinion on Colin Kaepernick? His jerseys are now sold-out across America because people are supporting him.
CURRY: I love that. I love that there's freedom of speech and that he can stand for what he believes in. There’s gonna be people who disagree with him, there’s gonna be people who agree with him. Which is what I think our country stands for, which will hopefully drive the conversation to bettering the equal rights and treatment of African Americans and people of color. So, I applaud him for taking a stand and hopefully the conversation is about what his message was and not the fact - is he going to stand or is he going to sit for the national anthem or whoever it is. The conversation is started and continues. I would also add the fact that he's putting his money where his mouth is and donating, what he said a million dollars to finding ways to better or to make his message a reality. I hope that all resources and conversations and intellect across the country will be able to figure out a way to make that million dollars as powerful as it can be - which is, he's on the right track.
Kaepernick, Reid, Lane, and Rapinoe have all said they will continue the protest. The NFL gets going Thursday, and we’ll start to see whether or not other players join in over the next few days. The NBA preseason schedule gets going October 1, and the regular season starts on October 25. Will we see NBA players join in the protest, or offer a different type of protest? We’ve seen social activism in the NBA, so it would not surprise me to see some players joining in.