'Life is not about ratings,' Bucks player says to Trump
Earlier in the day Trump took to Twitter with comments on the league and claims that their ratings were down due to their campaign against police brutality and other issues.
"People are tired of watching the highly political @NBA. Basketball ratings are WAY down, and they won't be coming back. I hope football and baseball are watching and learning because the same thing will be happening to them. Stand tall for our Country and our Flag!!!", Trump posted on his Twitter account.
Bucks guard Kyle Korver speaking at a news conference from the NBA "bubble" in Florida was asked about Trump's comments.
"This is a moment in time where there is an opportunity to say yes. To help us all be better, for our neighborhoods to be safer, to build trust in our neighborhood, in our society, in our country. This is a moment in time and we all have a different role and how you be a part of this. We all have to say yes. Some of us have larger platforms than others. Right? To whom much is given much is required. You hear that all the time. We're trying to navigate that right now. Life is not about ratings. Life is about standing for what is right," Korver said.
Bucks Coach Mike Budenholzer also responded to the tweet from the White House.
"I think it would be somewhat disingenuous to say that ratings don't matter. I have no idea if what President Trump said is true or not. The ratings to our league and to all of us..of course they matter but at the end of the day what is most important is that we continue to fight for change and fight for social justice. We fight for the end to police brutality. We fight for the end to voter suppression...whether it's one person seeing us or it's millions."
NBA players halted play for three days in a protest sparked by the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man in Kenosha, Wisconsin, an area Trump toured on Tuesday.
The president visited a burned-out furniture store that was destroyed in the upheaval and then a makeshift command center to praise National Guard troops who were called in to reinforce local police after several nights of peaceful protests gave way to looting, arson and gunfire.
Trump did not visit Blake or meet with any of his family members.
