LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- There’s been a lot of debate about how much professional athletes can contribute to the fight for social justice while their seasons are in play.
Angel McCoughtry doesn’t want to hear it.
“No. 1, yeah, we need to go back to work,” McCoughtry said. “You know how many people want to work? So I’m going back to work. But No. 2, there’s a way to fight. You take social justice with you anywhere. It’s not a distraction.”
So the former Louisville Cardinal and five-time WNBA All-Star came up with an idea to prove it.
“I was thinking, and I was like, 'What are some creative ways to show that we can play and still fight?'” McCoughtry said. “So that’s where the saying their names on the jerseys came from.”
McCoughtry’s original suggestion to the WNBA was to include names of victims of police brutality and social injustice on players’ jerseys for the upcoming season. The league chose to have Breonna Taylor’s name, along with “Say Her Name” on the back of all players’ jerseys.
“In the future, I would love for us to be able to pick different names,” McCoughtry said. “The goal is to have a relationship. The name the player picks, they have to have a relationship with that family to help them with different initiatives, maybe form foundation partnerships.”
McCoughtry has already connected with Taylor’s family and said they support the idea.
“People were like, ‘Well, what is a name on a jersey going to do?’” McCoughtry said. “’What’s the point?’ And my response was, we’re planting a seed. We’re planting a seed because, guess what, when you plant the seed, things grow. And eventually justice will take place. Eventually, things will come back the way they’re supposed to.”
The NBA will also have special jerseys for its upcoming season, but instead of victims’ names, the league is allowing players to choose from a list of approved messages like “Black Lives Matter” and “I Can’t Breathe.”
“We need everybody’s voice,” McCoughtry said. “We need everybody standing up. This didn’t just happen this year. We’ve been fighting for this stuff. We’ve been preaching but what happened was people didn’t have anything to do. They weren’t as busy because of the pandemic and they got to see exactly what we’ve been talking about for so long.”
Proceeds from the sale of this season's jerseys will go the Breonna Taylor Foundation.
McCoughtry and her Las Vegas Aces open the season on Sunday against the Chicago Fire.
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