Meyers Leonard was betwixt and between, and stressed out about it for days. Stand for the national anthem or take a knee?
Ultimately, when the Heat’s opening game in the NBA bubble arrived and the rest of his team knelt in a solemn protest against racism, the 28-year-old center, who is white — and whose U.S. Marine brother did two tours in Afghanistan — chose to stand.
“I can’t fully comprehend how our world, literally and figuratively, has turned into Black and white,” Leonard, who played at Illinois, said that night. “There’s a line in the sand, so to speak: ‘If you’re not kneeling, you’re not with us.