Prior to Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat on Wednesday night, there was a moment of silence to remember the lives lost in the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas on Tuesday. But the Heat went a step further.
When the moment of silence was complete, public address announcer Michael Baiamonte also urged fans to contact their senators, “to leave a message demanding their support for common sense gun laws.” The message was met with applause from those in the arena.
The same message was displayed on the videoboard at Miami’s FTX Arena.
The people in the arena were not the only ones who supported the message. NBA fans on Twitter were left pleasantly surprised by what they saw and heard.
Im extremely proud of the NBA and the Miami Heat for taking a moment of silence before the national anthem to mourn those lost yesterday and encourage people to ask their state senators to pass common sense gun laws.
— cody wyatt twittеr (@insidercory) May 26, 2022
https://twitter.com/lecavanaugh/status/1529623508455661568
https://twitter.com/lecavanaugh/status/1529624779287846912
https://twitter.com/Chris_inBigD/status/1529625127167705089
https://twitter.com/BomberATDoc/status/1529623361449500674
https://twitter.com/Pawgba/status/1529624467839799330
This is more or less in line with what Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr said in the more immediate aftermath of the tragedy, in his press conference prior to Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals on Tuesday. Miami coach Erik Spoelstra had similar sentiments in his pregame press conference on Wednesday.
If similar tragic events do occur in the future, expect to see more of this from athletes, coaches, teams and leagues. If nothing else, the shooting in Uvalde has shown us that they aren’t willing to be content with the normal moment of silence.