Minnesota teams postpone games, athletes and coaches speak out

The shooting of 20-year old Daunte Wright during a traffic stop on Sunday in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota has caused a stir in the world of sports. Details surrounding the fatal shooting are still slowly being released.

Local Minnesota teams the Twins, Timberwolves and Wild all decided to postpone their scheduled games on Monday.  

The Twins released a statement Monday sending sympathies to the Wright family, and noted that it was in the best interest to the fans, staff, players and community to not play Monday’s game against the Red Sox.

New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Hicks also sat out New York’s matchup with the Blue Jay’s on Monday in wake of Sunday’s events. Hicks spent the first seven years of his professional career in Minnesota.

Soon after the Twins released their statement, the Wild and Timberwolves followed suit, deciding that postponing Monday’s games was best for all involved.

Other professional athletes and coaches had their voices heard in the days following Wright’s death.

Washington Wizards star point guard spoke to reporters on Monday saying,  

“Somebody’s fatally shot without having a weapon because the officer thought it was a taser. Shit, should we take tasers and guns from police, too, then? What is the ultimate, like what is the end game here? It’s frustrating, it’s annoying, it continues to happen. It’s bullshit, honestly. I don’t know. America needs to be better, and we’ve gotta fix our police system ASAP.”

San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich was frank when sharing his thoughts stating, “That individual is dead. He’s dead. And his family is grieving, and his friends are grieving.”

Doc Rivers spoke in length about Sunday’s events, noting that Americans as a whole should be frustrated. Rivers continued, touching on ‘cancel culture’ stating,

“We keep hearing this cancel culture stuff, but we’re canceling black lives… I think we all have weaknesses. But I think we need to confront them and find out how we can make this place a better world and a better country.”