Miami Heat players of the past and present react to death of George Floyd

Former Miami Heat guard Ray Allen, LeBron James and Jae Crowder among the athletes outraged by the death of George Floyd while in  Minneapolis police custody

Former Miami Heat guard Ray Allen was among the many in the sporting world to react to the death of George Floyd.

Floyd died Monday after being in custody of four Minneapolis police officers. Video of the incident captured one of the officers with his knee over Floyd's neck for several minutes. Floyd, who is black, was arrested on charges of forgery. He is the latest minority to die after altercations with police.  Earlier this month, former Heat guard Dwyane Wade spoke on the Georgia man shot and killed by a retired police officer while jogging in a suburban neighborhood. 

"Why does this keep happening? What is wrong with this country that we continue to watch the police kill black men and nothing is done about it," Allen wrote on his Instagram page. "Whether innocent or guilty this man was already in handcuffs. There was no need to keep his knee in this man's throat. I just don't understand!"

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Many athletes, highlighted by LeBron James, used the situation as opportunity to show support of Colin Kaepernick, who created controversy over his kneeling for the national anthem to protest police brutality against minorities.

"Do you understand NOW!!??!!??," James wrote in an Instagram post captioned next to a picture of Kaepernick beside one of the officers involved. "Or is it still blurred to you??

Heat captain Udonis Haslem was angered by situation but also expressed his support of good police officers.

"I have close friends and family in law enforcement," Haslem wrote on Instagram. "This doesn't apply to everyone. There's alot of shitty people in this world, but I'm the first to tell you there's some damn good ones wearing that badge and we appreciate y'all."

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Shandel Richardson
SHANDEL RICHARDSON

Shandel has covered the NBA since 2010, with previous stops at The Athletic and South Florida Sun-Sentinel.  He has covered six NBA Finals, one Super Bowl, the NCAA basketball tournament. He has also been a beat writer for the Miami Hurricanes and contributed on every major beat in South Florida since 2003, including the Miami Dolphins and Miami Marlins. He can also be read in the Sportsbook Review for gambling coverage from around the NBA. A native of Bloomington, Illinois, Shandel attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He's also worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Kansas City Star.  TWITTER: @ShandelRich EMAIL: shandelrich@gmail.com You can subscribe to our YouTube channel here Follow all of our Miami Heat coverage on Facebook here