Call him Evan “Justice” Fournier. The French rear of Orlando (2.01 m, 27 years old) confirmed to us on Wednesday that he had decided, as part of the agreement between the NBA and the players’ union, to replace his last name at the back his jersey with the words “Justice”, in reference to the worldwide movement against racism and police violence born after the murder of George Floyd, on May 25 in Minneapolis.
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The NBA season is set to resume on July 30 in the “bubble” of the Walt Disney World Resort, in Orlando, where the teams have taken up residence for eight days.
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“I would have preferred to put Floyd … or Traoré”
Evan Fournier says he hesitated for a long time before making his choice. “I chose this word because I wanted something that made sense and also be understandable in French. But I might as well have put nothing. I didn’t think it was great that at the start we were told that we could put what we wanted, then that it ended up with a list of 29 words. We talk about freedom of expression and in the end it’s a bit phony, since it’s controlled … I understand LeBron James and others, who have given up, it’s a way of saying that we do a little bit of our face. Afterwards, I find that in my situation, it would have been strange not to hire me. It is not my country, but we are all concerned. If I could have, I would have preferred to put the name of one of the victims, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, or even Traoré (in reference to the death of Adama Traoré after his arrest on July 19, 2016 in Val-d’Oise, denounced as a police blunder by his family) to carry a French message. “
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Another French player in the Orlando “bubble”, Celtics pivot Vincent Poirier has chosen to display the word “Equality” on the back of his jersey.
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