Karl-Anthony Towns wore custom “anti-racism” shoes in tonight’s UK Alumni Charity Game.
Here’s a look at Towns’ custom kicks:
.@KarlTowns unveils custom kicks for tonight's @KentuckyMBB alumni game. pic.twitter.com/vlmUihOKNM
— The Players' Tribune (@PlayersTribune) August 26, 2017
Earlier today, Towns delivered an article about his take on racism and more. Here’s an excerpt:
There was one thing I didn’t feel about Charlottesville.
I didn’t feel shocked by it.
Yeah, I was disappointed but not shocked. It’s not a surprise to me that racism is alive and kicking in 2017.
In Charlottesville, I think we saw a more visible form of racism. We don’t see it so public very often, but that kind of hate is sadly … kind of normal. Obviously I don’t mean normal as in acceptable. It’s not. It’s evil. I mean normal as in this is nothing new in our country. It’s something we experience or hear about growing up. America has been struggling with racism since Day One. Our country is built on this. It’s our history.
Over time we have been trying to progress from those early days, but it doesn’t happen overnight. I’m 21 — even during my lifetime I’ve seen some major progress. It’s crazy to think about the man who drove me to the airport last week — the amount of change he’s experienced. But again, there’s been a lot of stagnation, too. Just turn on the news to see all the ways we’re going backward sometimes and forward other times.
So that’s why I’m saying I wasn’t shocked. But I take back one part of that … I was shocked by one thing.
I was shocked by how our President responded to Charlottesville.
Our President was given a layup: Denounce white supremacists.
And he couldn’t … and wouldn’t.
He missed … he missed badly.
I think about it like this: The President’s response, in basketball terms … ’cause you may know I know a little about the sport … was just like catching the ball on a fast break — no one else is even past half court — and then tripping on your own feet inside the paint as the ball flies out of bounds.
