NBA players have unprecedented encounter with Pope Francis

NBA players recently avoided the White House. The Vatican is another story.

Five players and league officials had an unprecedented private audience with Pope Francis on Monday morning after the Catholic leader’s aide launched one to discuss the group’s racial injustice initiatives, according to ESPN.com.

The NBA contingent included Kyle Korver, Sterling Brown, Jonathan Isaac, Anthony Tolliver and Marco Belinelli.

The NBA has become the focal point of the athlete’s response to racial injustice after police shot Jacob Blake, a black man, seven times in Kenosha, Wisconsin. After the video of the incident was posted, the Bucks launched a boycott of playoff games inside the NBA bubble. The playoffs were on hold for several days as players decided to cancel the season entirely or return to finish it.

The players eventually agreed to return after getting owners and NBA commissioner Adam Silver to agree to several league-sponsored initiatives for racial equality. Pope Francis wanted to know more about how players were drawing attention to issues.

Brown, who was with the Bucks last season, has personal experience of police brutality when he was tasered at a Walgreens for a parking violation in early 2018. Brown recently settled a $ 750,000 lawsuit with the city from Milwaukee.

Magic member Isaac was one of the few NBA players who did not kneel during the national anthem.