Inside The Heat

Miami Heat continues their impressive track record of fighting social injustice

The Miami Heat have always been ahead of the game on social injustice issues

Shandel Richardson

The way the Miami Heat has responded to the death of George Floyd should come as no surprise.

Last week Floyd died after being detained by Minneapolis police officers. The case has been national news for the past several days, drawing protests across the country about the treatment of minorities by law enforcement.

Udonis Haslem, Duncan Robinson and Meyers Leonard have been among the Heat players to show support for justice for Floyd. After they voiced their opinions, the Heat backed the cause as an organization.

"One of the characteristics that makes the city of Miami so unique is its immense cultural diversity," the team released in a statement. "This diversity is a celebrated part of South Florida, both inside and out of AmericanAirlines Arena. It is one of the reasons we deeply mourn the tragic deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and too many others, whom we have lost to acts of extreme and excessive violence against African-Americans; acts that have unfortunately become all too commonplace."

The Heat even showed support of the "Black Lives Matter" movement by participating in "Blackout Tuesday," with several organizations posting photos of all-black images on social media.

"The Miami Heat sends their deepest condolences to the Floyd, Taylor and Arbery families," the statement continued. "Our hearts are broken. But our resolve is not. We urge everyone to responsibly let their voices be heard and encourage our community to come together.”

The Heat have long been an organization willing to fight causes that involve social injustice. In 2012, the players all wore hoodies in a photo in support of teenager Trayvon Martin after he was shot and killed by George Zimmerman. They also backed former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick when he caused controversy by kneeling during the NBA anthem in 2016.

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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

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