Okogie helped organize and promote a giveback event that provided essential goods for those in the South Minneapolis community. Malik Beasley was among those at the event, distributing goods to those in need. Jake Layman was packing meals at a Timberwolves and Lynx event last week.
Timberwolves players have been on the front lines in the battle for social justice and racial equity and effort to rebuild communities damaged in the past few weeks following George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis Police officers.
“The biggest thing we want to do is we want to help our community,” Okogie said last week. “The events that happened in the past week, it’s very unfortunate, and it’s unacceptable, but we have to start making a change one neighborhood at a time.”
The Timberwolves and Lynx recently joined up with the Sacramento Kings for a PSA speaking out against social injustice, racial inequity and systemic racism, packed meal and snack packs to give back to those in need and partnered with the Minneapolis Foundation and developed a Fund for Safe Communities to “address systemic inequities and translate community anger into actions.”
“We really feel like, as an organization and as a group, we’ve come together to deal with this in a way that will make us who we are,” Timberwolves president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas said. “These opportunities, you have to embrace them. It’s hard, it’s painful, it’s tragic … but we want to be a spark or an organization that pushes positive change, and we’re proud of the fact that our guys are standing up for what they believe, and as an organization, we’re implementing productive and positive steps to move in that direction.”
Immediately following the death of Floyd, the Timberwolves held a team video call. Included was Tru Pettigrew, a public speaker who helps organizations approach racial and cultural issues. The organization made a point to have conversations that Rosas said “need to be had.” And the players took the lead.
”They’re being open, they’re being honest, they’re being transparent with how they feel, how they’ve felt,” head coach Ryan Saunders said. “We give our players all the credit for being that open and honest, all the way to the staff.”
Saunders said the NBA has “always been an association that wants players and supports players to stand up for social justice and stand up for what’s right.”
In line with that, the Timberwolves organization has made a point to support its players in any way possible, especially now. They want to serve as a support system for their players in this fight.
That may be in the form of providing opportunities and resources for players to be active in the community, to continuing the conversation about social injustice or keeping players as safe as possible while they’re out in public fighting for what they believe in.
Minnesota is aware the risks of the coronavirus are still very much prevalent. Rosas said Dr. Robby Sikka, the team’s vice president of basketball performance and technology, has kept track of the players and kept them informed of the risks. Minnesota has protocols in place to keep players, and others in the organization, as safe and healthy as possible.
Asked what those protocols are, Rosas said the team is following league and state guidance, noting that Minnesota has pushed to make sure anyone who’s been a part of mass gatherings be tested.
“So that’s given us the resources to be able to support our guys in market, and other guys outside of our market. Every situation is different, but we’re supporting them in every way possible to make sure that they have any resource that they need,” Rosas said. “It’s a situation where we’ve got to be smart, we’ve got to be educated, and we’ve got to make sure that we’re supporting our players as best we can, not only through this period, but also physically and health-wise. So it’s something that’s definitely top of mind for us.”
Saunders noted that an issue with young teams is often guys aren’t as willing to speak up when needed. That has not been the case for this team in this moment.
“We have a very young roster of players who are growing up before our eyes. It says a lot about them, it says a lot about their maturity, their emotional IQ to understand where we’re at, to understand what’s happening and to understand their responsibility to play their part in a time where we need them,” Rosas said. “We need them to step up and lead us and show us the way.”
They’ve done so to date. Rosas said there’s a lot of pain present within the Wolves’ players — not only because these issues have been so constant for so long, but because it’s recently hit so close to home.
“There’s a sense of responsibility to do something,” Rosas said. “We want to be a representative of the world we want to live in, and that starts with us.”
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June 15, 2020 at 04:00AM
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