(Source: AFP)
*Joakim Noah is defending his anti-war stance after coming under fire for sharing his long-held beliefs against violence, and explaining why he skipped a team dinner with the cadets at the U.S. Military Academy and a speech from a retired colonel.
USA Today reports how the New York Knicks went into damage-control mode following Noah’s candid statements. Even tweeting out photos later on Friday of Noah speaking with cadets. West Point also issued a statement denouncing Noah’s choice of a venue for his protest.
Noah stood by his beliefs Saturday following the fallout.
“It has nothing to do with the cadets,” Noah said. “I have a lot of respect for the troops and the sacrifice that they bring for this country. It’s just hard for me to see kids killing kids. It’s my views. But it was cool just to be able to spend a little time with them, talk to them and just — they have a huge responsibility — to be able to talk to them about that.”
It’s worth noting that many of the same folks who take issue with Noah’s anti-war stance are probably ALL LIVES MATTER proponents.
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“That’s him and I respect him for it,” Derrick Rose said of Noah, who was his teammate in Chicago the past seven years. “That’s the last thing he wants is to make a certain group feel a certain way. But that’s who he is. Like his heart, and how careful he is and how thoughtful he is about people.
“I just don’t want people to paint an image of him who he’s not. He’s a caring guy, a loving guy, and the last thing he wants is the attention that’s coming to him from everywhere about him about anti. And that’s something he’s not. But of course people are going to run with it and make their own stories, but the people on this team and everybody on this staff, everybody knows his heart and that’s the only thing he cares about.”
Noah said his beliefs go all the back to his childhood. “I think it was just the way I was raised,” Noah said. “I was in the city for 9/11. I’ve always been against war. It’s just who I am.
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