Kobe Bryant’s ‘I Can’t Breathe’ t-shirt takes on new meaning after George Floyd murder

1905
Image Courtesy: BBC/Instagram

While the world is fighting the novel Coronavirus pandemic, USA has faced a new challenge regarding the death of George Floyd due to police brutality, and the riots that have been observed all over the country, starting from Minneapolis where the murder took place. The African American, who was suffocating before he died, which has been a driving notion in the riots and protests. Amongst all the unrest, the late NBA icon Kobe Bryant’s wife Vanessa shares an old photo of her husband, wearing a t-shirt that had the line ‘I CAN’T BREATHE’, which now has taken a new meaning.

Image Courtesy: BBC/Instagram

A similar incident to Floyd’s murder took place back in 2014, when Eric Garner, a former horticulturist of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation was choked to death by police in Staten Island. While he was being choked, Garner had uttered ‘I can’t breathe’ 11 times. Following the tragic incident, Kobe and many other athletes of the country, including LeBron James and Derrick Rose, had wore a t-shirt with the text to honour his tragic demise.

Six years later, the quote becomes relevant again, as Vanessa takes to Instagram to share a photo of Kobe wearing the t-shirt, this time,

“My husband wore this shirt years ago and yet here we are again.💔#ICANTBREATHE” Vanessa wrote in the caption.

“Life is so fragile. Life is so unpredictable. Life is too short. Let’s share and embrace the beautiful qualities and similarities we all share as people. Drive out hate. Teach respect and love for all at home and school. Spread LOVE. Fight for change- register to VOTE. Do not use innocent lives lost as an excuse to loot. BE AN EXAMPLE OF THE CHANGE WE WANT TO SEE. #BLACKLIVESMATTER❤️she added.

Following the incident last week, a number of current and former NBA players have opened up about the death of George Floyd.

Basketball legend Michael Jordan took to Twitter to express his solidarity to the victim.

“Being a celebrity, being an NBA player don’t exclude me from no conversations at all. First and foremost I’m a black man and I’m a member of this community… We’re raising awareness for some of the injustices that we’ve been seeing,” Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown said in Instagram live.

Minnesota Timberwolves icon Karl-Anthony Towns had joined the peaceful protests in Minneapolis along with former basketball player and Floyd’s friend Stephen Jackson.

The police officer, Derek Chauvin, has been taken into custody on charges of third degree murder and manslaughter.

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