Carmelo Anthony Wants U.S. Team To Take A Stand Against Gun Violence In Rio

In April of last year, Carmelo Anthony took to the streets of Baltimore, the city where he grew up, in protest of the death of Freddie Gray, the 25-year-old who died while in police custody that month.

Since then, the New York Knicks star has become a vocal opponent of not only the police’s mistreatment of civilians, but gun violence throughout the country more generally, participating in the NBA’s anti-gun violence PSAs and speaking out on multiple occasions, including when his own teammate, Cleanthony Early, was shot in December.

Following the deaths of Alton Sterling, Philando Castile and five Dallas police officers, Anthony is now suggesting that he and his fellow basketball players take a stand on the biggest sports stage in the world: the Olympics.

In a blog post published on The Guardian on Wednesday, Anthony suggested, albeit rather coyly, that he wants his teammates on the U.S. Olympics basketball team to do something in Rio de Janeiro that will help effect change.

“For me, I do feel like this is a platform where we should — we as athletes, we as Americans — use it for something,” he continued. “Whether we make a statement out there or send a message, we can show the world that we’re united. Whatever way we want to do it, this is a chance to do something meaningful before an audience of billions. I don’t know what that something is yet, but we still have time to figure it out.”

The suggestion comes less than a week after Anthony posted an Instagram in which he said, “I’m calling for all my fellow ATHLETES to step up and take charge.”

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