Former NBA player Stephen Jackson, still in mourning over the death of his friend George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer, said in an interview that Brooklyn News point guard Kyrie Irving has been particularly passionate about the incident and that has driven his stance on NBA players sitting out rather than playing out the remainder of the season at Disneyworld in Orlando, Fla.

Irving had been out for the season due to injury, but had expressed interest in joining this teammates in the restarting of the abridged season on July 31, but was told he couldn’t go. NBC Sports reports he then took up a position in which he feels players should be focused on social justice rather than playing, Jackson says.

“The first press conference I had, he been [sic] calling me damn near every day on FaceTime. He’s been passionate about this, and by the conversation he had, I just think he understands this moment,” Jackson said, according to NBC Sports.  “And he’s just like me. I don’t have all the answers. And he’s speaking off heart. He’s speaking off passion. Because – I ain’t said this on no [sic]  interviews – he’s been calling me crying, because he literally knows that I’m putting everything on the line.”
Irving and L.A. Lakers guard Avery Bradley reportedly led a group of players in a call last Friday (June 12) that questioned returning to the court. The group was said to want certain concerns addressed including investment of league resources in social justice reforms, but also the safety of players amid the coronavirus pandemic, which had postponed the season earlier this year.

Jackson, who played 14 seasons in the NBA for various teams, has publicly said that now is not the time for the league to resume its season. In an Instagram post he expressed how he felt about the situation.

“Everybody’s going to be worried about the playoffs,” Jackson said. “They’re going to have all that blasting all over the TV, and nobody’s going to be talking about getting justice for all these senseless murders by the police, and nobody’s going to be focused on the task at hand.”