On Tuesday afternoon, a verdict of guilty on all counts came in for former Minnesota police officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd.
And immediately, the woke world of sports rushed to comment on the verdict.
LeBron James, as he often does, jumped to Twitter to comment on the nation’s political atmosphere, adding just one word to the discussion: “ACCOUNTABILITY.”
ACCOUNTABILITY
— LeBron James (@KingJames) April 20, 2021
In her own Tuesday evening tweet, former ESPN personality and Atlantic writer Jemele Hill echoed James with his assessment of “accountability.”
This is accountability.
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) April 20, 2021
Naturally, most of the pro sports leagues and teams had responses prepared and ready to post:
pic.twitter.com/kzpcKfa6fk
— NFL (@NFL) April 20, 2021
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— Andrew Greif (@AndrewGreif) April 20, 2021
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— U.S. Soccer (@ussoccer) April 20, 2021
The following was released by the WNBA. pic.twitter.com/KWF4mkr6mf
— WNBA (@WNBA) April 20, 2021
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— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) April 20, 2021
Yes, Gianna Floyd, your Dad has changed the world.#BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/cbLC1gtVjB
— WNBPA (@TheWNBPA) April 20, 2021
MLBPA Executive Director Tony Clark issued the following statement pic.twitter.com/3xmGIM1qem
— MLB Players (@MLB_PLAYERS) April 20, 2021
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— Minnesota Lynx (@minnesotalynx) April 20, 2021
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— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) April 20, 2021
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— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) April 20, 2021
A slew of players and others in sports also joined the din. Their comments quickly flooded social media. Green Bay Packers player Marcedes Lewis soon added his voice to the trial results, writing “Justice. The marathon continues.”
Justice. The marathon continues fr. 🏁
— Marcedes Lewis (@MarcedesLewis89) April 20, 2021
JUSTICE. You Damn Right!!!!!!!
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) April 20, 2021
Justice served on all counts. Good.
Still a ton of work to do.Continue to rest peacefully #GeorgeFloyd ✊🏾🙏🏾
— Bubba Wallace (@BubbaWallace) April 20, 2021
Justice and Accountability! Things I never thought I would see. There’s much more work to do, but this is an amazing start working toward the reform this country NEEDS!
— Karl-Anthony Towns (@KarlTowns) April 20, 2021
Thank God…guilty! Justice has been served!!
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) April 20, 2021
🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾
— Marcus Morris (@MookMorris2) April 20, 2021
This is justice.
— Natasha Cloud (@T_Cloud4) April 20, 2021
Outta thereeee!!!!!!
— A’ja Wilson (@_ajawilson22) April 20, 2021
Put his ass under the jail
— Josh Hart (@joshhart) April 20, 2021
Condolences to the Floyd Family🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
This is just the first step of starting to change a broken system https://t.co/ueD5EwMizw— Matt Barnes (@Matt_Barnes22) April 20, 2021
Accountability….RIP George Floyd 🙏🏾
— 🏁 Jamal Crawford (@JCrossover) April 20, 2021
Let’s make this the new normal. Accountability is served #GeorgeFloyd
— Renee Montgomery (@ReneeMontgomery) April 20, 2021
Guilty!!!!!! Tears of JOY for #GeorgeFloyd family and for Justice!!!! 🖤
— Swin Cash (@SwinCash) April 20, 2021
On all accounts. Period.
— Nneka Ogwumike (@nnekaogwumike) April 20, 2021
Love. Peace. Justice. ♥️
— Allen Robinson II (@AllenRobinson) April 20, 2021
Although Justice was served in this particular case, one guilty verdict doesn’t change the realities of life. I pray this is a catalyst to restore dignity and grandeur of life in ALL communities. So needless to say it’s time to continue to work serving those in need. #dowork
— Matt Forte (@MattForte22) April 20, 2021
Our hope is that this verdict will be a small step towards accountability. But that’s just about accountability, not justice.
For us, justice would be George Floyd alive today.
— Cori Bush (@CoriBush) April 20, 2021
Remember: none of Chauvin’s colleagues turned him in. He murdered a man in broad daylight and we are here today because a brave Black girl named Darnella Frazier kept taping despite threats from the cops on the scene.
— Mikel Jollett (@Mikel_Jollett) April 20, 2021
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