Mets’ Dominic Smith Gets Emotional, As WNBA and NBA Decide Whether to Continue Season Amid Jacob Blake Shooting
Following the New York Mets game against the Miami Marlins on August 26, Mets’ first baseman Dominic Smith got emotional during his postgame press conference.
After beating the Marlins 5 to 4, Smith was asked about police brutality and what has been the hardest part for him throughout these last several weeks. The topic in general made Smith emotional before he had even answered the question.
With tears streaming down his face, the first baseman struggled to find the words at first. He then said, “I mean, I think the most difficult part is to see like people still don’t care. And for this to continuously happen, I mean, it just shows the hate in people’s hearts.”
As Smith continued, he admitted it all “just sucks. Being a black man in America is not easy, so like I said, I wasn’t there today. But I’ll bounce back, I’ll be fine.”
The question was in response to the latest wave of Black Lives Matter protests following the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Wisconsin. Blake was shot seven times in the back at close range by a police officer. Blake is still fighting for his life and is reportedly paralyzed from the waist down as a result.
On Wednesday night, sports teams from around the country participated in their own forms of peaceful protest. As images taken at the Washington Mystics game show, each player wore a shirt that had a letter on the front and seven small red circles on the back.
When they kneeled together, the front of their shirts read “Jacob Blake” and the red circles represented each gunshot wound on his back.
Additionally, the NBA had decided to postpone the season again, at least for the night. This time it was in solidarity for Blake and the others who have suffered and lost their lives as a result of police brutality.
In fact, according to Sports Illustrated, while all other teams in the NBA playoffs have voted to keep playing, the Lakers and the Clippers have voted not to continue. What this means at this moment in time is unclear.
On top of the boycotted games with the NBA and WNBA, games in the MLS and MLB were also postponed and, or boycotted. As Dodgers star Clayton Kershaw said in his own statement, “As a white player on this team…how can we show support? What’s something tangible that we can do to help out Black brothers on this team? … We felt the best thing to do was to support that in not playing.”
Sara Vallone has been a writer and editor for the last four and a half years. A graduate of Ohio University, she enjoys celebrity news, sports, and articles that enhance people's lives.
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