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Los Angeles Clippers coach Doc Rivers watched his team score a big win over the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Playoffs on Tuesday night, but when he stepped to the podium to speak to reporters he had something else on his mind.
Rivers was taking questions when he gave a raw, emotional statement about Jacob Blake, who was shot seven times in the back by a police officer in Kenosha, Wisconsin which has sparked protests throughout the state.
The Clippers coach did not hold back when he made his emotional plea to reform the police force and call for change.
“All you hear is Donald Trump and all of them talking about fear,” Rivers said, as transcribed by ESPN.com. “We’re the ones getting killed. We’re the ones getting shot. We’re the ones that we’re denied to live in certain communities. We’ve been hung. We’ve been shot. And all you do is keep hearing about fear. It’s amazing why we keep loving this country, and this country does not love us back. It’s really so sad. Like, I should just be a coach. I’m so often reminded of my color. It’s just really sad. We got to do better. But we got to demand better.
“It’s funny. We protest. They send riot guards. They send people in riot outfits. They go up to Michigan with guns. They’re spitting on cops. Nothing happens. The training has to change in the police force. The unions have to be taken down in the police force. My dad was a cop. I believe in good cops. We’re not trying to defund the police and take all their money away. We’re trying to get them to protect us, just like they protect everybody else.”
You can watch Doc Rivers’ comments below.
Blake was shot on Sunday while walking away from police officers when he made his way around the front of the car. Blake then attempted to enter his vehicle, before the officer grabbed his shirt and began unloading rounds into the victim. He was flown to the hospital where he is reportedly in serious condition. Cops initially arrived at the scene as Blake was attempting to break up a fight between two women.
Blake is out of surgery and in the ICU, according to TMZ. His father says that Blake is paralyzed from the waist down.
