Milwaukee Bucks: Sterling Brown leads teammates, thousands more in Sunday protest

For the second day running, Milwaukee Bucks players took to the streets to march and protest for social justice, this time leading an official team event.

The Milwaukee Bucks continued to make their voices heard in the fight against inequality, racial injustice, and police brutality on Sunday afternoon.

After a group of players spearheaded by Giannis Antetokounmpo joined a protest march on Saturday, those players returned joined by additional teammates, coaches, and officials as the franchise staged its own event starting from Fiserv Forum on Sunday afternoon.

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Along with an estimated crowd of 7,500 people, the Bucks marched from outside the arena to Veterans Park.

Before setting off, the crowd were addressed over the megaphone by Bucks wing Sterling Brown. Considering Brown was tased and suffered a wrongful arrest at the hands of Milwaukee Police back in 2018, there was an obvious power in the 25-year-old’s presence, perspective, and words.

Brown encouraged those in attendance to take nine seconds of silence to represent each minute that officers kneeled on George Floyd’s neck. Then, speaking in front of Fiserv Forum, Brown said:

"“Y’all see how we’re all here together, and we’re here as one. We’re making something great happen. We’re making something positive happen that is heard around the world. You’ve got different countries coming together and fighting, and standing for something. As we march today, let’s be loud, let’s be heard, let’s be known.”"

The group set off from there with players participating including Brown, Giannis, Thanasis Antetokounmpo, Donte DiVincenzo, Brook Lopez, Robin Lopez, Pat Connaughton, Wesley Matthews, Ersan Ilyasova, Kyle Korver, Cam Reynolds, and Frank Mason III. Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry and his family also participated, as did general manager Jon Horst, and Milwaukee activist Frank Nitty.

Other Bucks who couldn’t attend showed their support on social media, with a number of players still out of their home market of Milwaukee since the relaxing of the NBA’s coronavirus restrictions allowed them to do so.

Point guard Eric Bledsoe captioned a photo of his teammates marching with “Hell yeah my bros” on his Instagram story. While All-Star forward Khris Middleton provided a statement of his support that was released through the Bucks’ official social media channels and later his own Twitter account.

Meanwhile, D.J. Wilson’s Instagram showed that he was also protesting, most likely in his home state of California.

Just as was the case the previous day when a smaller group of Bucks had marched, the players did not address the media on Sunday as they remained determined to keep the focus on the cause itself, while making it clear that this was not about publicity or some kind of photo opportunity for them.

Tweeting about the march later in the day, the league’s reigning MVP shared his pride and appreciation for those who came to show their support.

As senior vice president Alex Lasry told The Athletic’s Eric Nehm before the march ($$), the Bucks know they need to continue to act beyond this protest and the countless other events they’ve held in the past. But for fans of the team, there’s no doubt that Sunday will have provided a sense of pride and gratitude that both the players and organization are quite literally standing with the people at this important moment in history.