Cavs, Browns, Indians to form alliance to address social injustice

The Cleveland Cavaliers, Cleveland Browns and Cleveland Indians have decided to form an alliance to address social injustice issues.

The Cleveland Cavaliers season in terms of games has been over for a while to this point. Cleveland was not a club that was invited to the season’s restart in Orlando, of which the NBA’s top 22 teams were, and the then-19-46 Cavs were not.

In any case, for those clubs and sports in general right now in this country, it’s evident that teams have a platform to help combat social injustice issues. There have been tragedies involving Breonna Taylor and George Floyd this year already, and it’s clear as day that acts of brutality and social injustice against black people need to be held accountable.

What happened to 29-year-old Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin recently, which involved him being shot at seven times in his back and hit four times by a police officer, Rusten Sheskey, is another indefensible act. There were officers sent to the area relevant, via the Wisconsin Department of Justice, due to a female caller saying that her boyfriend, Blake, who wasn’t supposed to be on the premises, was present.

Officers then tried to arrest Blake and were unsuccessful in tasing him, and then Blake was shot while Sheskey was holding his shirt. Blake would later admit that he had a knife in his possession, which turned out to reportedly be in his car, but witnesses emphasized how Blake was attempting to break up a fight between two women, as h/t NPR’s Rachel Treisman.

Blake is now experiencing paralysis currently from the waist down after the shots, which were captured on camera, and an investigation is reportedly ongoing. Protests have ensued, meanwhile, and rightfully so.

At any rate, it’s again abundantly clear that these acts of police violence need to be held accountable, and enough is enough in regards to acts of violence against black people in our country. The shooting of Blake and ongoing issues involving police and need for social change were reportedly the reason for the Milwaukee Bucks first and then other clubs set to play playoff games unifying in a walkout against playing their next postseason games.

The Los Angeles Lakers and LA Clippers reportedly voted to end the season, actually among a vote, while other clubs reportedly did not share that same opinion.

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Wednesday, the NBA’s Board of Governors were set to have a call on how to proceed on Thursday morning, and players, per Wojnarowski and ESPN’s Malika Andrews, were set to have a meeting on Thursday AM, too.

The majority of players reportedly did want to play out the rest of the postseason at some point, though.

As far as a further update, per Woj, the NBA postseason will play out at some point after players decided to resume play, but Thursday’s slate of games are postponed. Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported how Friday is being aimed for for a restart of games.

What was great news to see from a Cleveland perspective, however, was how the Cleveland Cavaliers, Cleveland Browns and Cleveland Indians are forming an alliance to address social injustice issues and develop a direct strategy related to those in Cleveland/surrounding areas. That’s per a Cavs press release.

That sort of thing is nice to hear about from these three teams in hopefully setting the right example.

That alliance, per the Cavs press release, will additionally put an emphasis on “improving the relationship between law enforcement and its citizens, encouraging nonpartisan voting activities and increasing the opportunities for quality education for everyone.”

Per the release, here are the leaders that will spearhead the action that’s conducted via the alliance:

• Cavs general manager Koby Altman and head coach J.B. Bickerstaff
• Browns general manager Andrew Berry and head coach Kevin Stefanski
• Indians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti, general manager Mike Chernoff and manager Terry Francona

The overall groups and players will have chances to be firmly a part of this process and being proactive, too, as the release noted. In terms of the Cavs part of the team statement, here was what Altman said.

"“We have an extraordinary opportunity to make a lasting impact on society and the Cavaliers are committed to help bring about change,” said Altman. “The social and economic disparity in our community reveals some ugly truths, and Coach Bickerstaff and I are honored to be at the table to address these issues with such a prominent group of our peers. We never take for granted our place in the fabric of Cleveland and hopefully our coming together inspires others to join us.”"

The aforementioned Berry and Antonetti would make ensuing statements as well, but overall, it’s encouraging to know that Cleveland’s three major pro sports teams are helping address social injustice issues in Cleveland and Northeast Ohio/surrounding areas. This seemingly ensures that these clubs will be helping spread awareness of problems and hopefully, this will lead to active change.

Acts of violence against black people in our country the likes of Taylor, Floyd and Blake and too many others are unacceptable, but it’s at least reassuring to know that the Cleveland Cavaliers, Browns and Indians are a unified front in relation to helping preventing such acts in Northeast Ohio. That aids in setting the right example.

J.B. Bickerstaff, who is a key member of a coaches alliance addressing social injustice involving the NBA, is an individual that will absolutely be directly involved in this process and helping invoke real, tangible change.

Moreover, it was great to see Cavs players such as Kevin Love and Larry Nance Jr. show their support for the NBA/players’ walkout to help bring about change, via Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor, and also Bickerstaff. Tristan Thompson and Dylan Windler showed support as well via Twitter, both stressing how change is essential.

Props to the Cavs, Browns and Indians for being a unified group and aiding in helping invoke change in Cleveland involving police action/relationship with surrounding areas, and ideally aiding in helping prevent acts of social injustice.

It’s also apparent that Bickerstaff is such a tremendous leader of individuals that does so by words but, most notably, his actions.

The Cavaliers should be more than grateful to have him as their head coach for youngsters such as Collin Sexton, Darius Garland, Kevin Porter Jr. and Windler.