White House senior adviser Jared Kushner said Thursday that NBA players who refuse to take the court in protest over the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Wisconsin are fortunate they are wealthy enough to “take a night off from work,” but the pro athletes should be working to solve the problem.
“Look, I think that the NBA players are very fortunate that they have the financial position where they’re able to take a night off from work without having to have the consequences to themselves financially,” Kushner said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “So they have that luxury, which is great.”
Kushner, who is married to President Trump’s daughter Ivanka, added: “Look, I think with the NBA, there’s a lot of activism, and I think that they’ve put a lot of slogans out. But I think what we need to do is turn that from slogans and signals to actual action that’s going to solve the problem.”
Kushner told Politico in a separate interview that he plans to reach out to Lakers all-star and activist LeBron James with an invitation to the White House to discuss concrete policy.
“If LeBron James reaches out to the White House or we reach out to him, we’re happy to talk with him and say let’s both agree on what we both want to accomplish and let’s come up with a common pathway to get there,” he said.
The decision by the Milwaukee Bucks to postpone their game with the Orlando Magic led the NBA to postpone all three of Wednesday’s playoff games.
The WNBA quickly followed suit as did some Major League Baseball teams, including the Milwaukee Brewers.
NBA players met Wednesday and there was a push by Lakers and Clippers players to end the season. But after a Thursday meeting, the remainder of the season will go on, but Thursday’s games will be postponed.
Blake, 29, was shot in the back by a police officer in Kenosha on Sunday.
The shooting sparked days of protests and rioting in the Wisconsin city.
