Charlotte Hornets coach James Borrego condemns Washington riots as game goes on
Charlotte Hornets coach James Borrego wishes he could have been home with his family Thursday, processing the frightening scenes in Washington.
Instead, he and his players had a game in Atlanta with the Hawks. And that felt weird.
“It feels a little odd to be playing tonight, to be honest,” Borrego said before the 7:30 tip-off. “The pain, the hurt in our country right now is real ...
“It’s disheartening. It’s disappointing. It’s embarrassing for our country to be at this point. It’s not the country I want my kids to inherit.”
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported about 5 p.m. that the NBA hadn’t discussed postponing the 11 games scheduled Thursday, after agitators stormed the U.S. Capitol. A woman was shot and killed and a bomb was reportedly found, with Congress members evacuated for several hours.
Borrego said at about 6 p.m., in his standard pregame media availability, that he hadn’t yet talked with his players as a group, but was about to do so, to share their feelings.
“It’s hard not to be around my family at this time. But we have a job to do tonight, and we’ll do that,” Borrego said.
Borrego was asked what it’s like to have to focus on a basketball game with everything happening in Washington.
“Everybody deals with this differently. It’s hard to judge every person’s heart and mind in a situation like this,” Borrego said. “I’m just going to navigate it as I go.
“I want to give them space and time to talk through this and share their thoughts and feelings. Because this is bigger than any basketball game — any profession — at this moment.”
This story was originally published January 6, 2021 at 6:50 PM with the headline "Charlotte Hornets coach James Borrego condemns Washington riots as game goes on."
