Bigger than basketball
Mike D'Antoni speaks out on John Lewis' legacy and voting rights
Jul 30, 2020, 5:28 pm
Photo via: Salman Ali.
Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni came to his media availability Thursday afternoon dawning another "Vote" t-shirt. It's part of an ongoing trend that the 69-year-old head coach started after Civil Rights icon John Lewis passed nearly two weeks ago.
Mike D'Antoni wore this shirt at media availability today: "It's a tribute to John Lewis who spent his whole life t… https://t.co/t0rJMyNXrl— Salman Ali (@Salman Ali) 1595426484.0
"I have people send them to me and I appreciate it," said D'Antoni, smiling. "There's a lot of people concerned about what's going on and the only way anything get[s] changed is voting."
Lewis' funeral was nationally broadcasted Thursday morning from Atlanta, Georgia and former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton were all in attendance and gave moving speeches and tributes. In light of this, D'Antoni was asked Thursday afternoon about Lewis' legacy and work on important issues such as voting rights.
"It's fundamental to our democracy," said D'Antoni. "One thing that's not talked about - we don't vote in mass enough. The percentage is way too low. [There are] too many obstacles put in front of people to deny them their constitutional right to vote. We have to strive to do better. His whole life was dedicated to that. And it'd be a great tribute to him to pass the Voter Act in his name that's on the Senate's desk and get it right."
The bill D'Antoni is referring to is H.R. 4, a measure to restore key elements of the Voting Rights Act that Lewis was instrumental to getting passed in 1965. The Act was stripped down in 2013 by the Supreme Court and since then, lawmakers in Washington have made several, organized pushes to restore those important provisions. After Lewis passed away, there was a new wave of energy to turn that bill into law and the House of Representatives even approved a proposal to rename the legislation after John Lewis. However, the bill has yet to be passed.
"Why are we even squabbling?" asked D'Antoni. "Why are we even having this discussion in a democracy where everybody has the right to vote and vote freely. [Do] whatever it takes - whether it's a expanded days [to vote] to make it easier for people, whether it's a national holiday. Whatever it takes to get every citizen the right to vote shouldn't be a discussion and it should already be done."
Several NBA players have taken on social causes that they feel strongly about in the Orlando bubble, including justice for the killing of 26-year-old Kentucky woman Breonna Taylor. While D'Antoni has generally not spoken out on social causes, he's been pretty skillful and vocal about voting rights while in Orlando.
"Again, when somebody has to devote their whole life's work to that, there's something wrong with what's going on," continued D'Antoni. "And this is what we're talking about. Hopefully we're all striving to get a more perfect union. You can't do that when there's racial injustice against the poor, whatever it is. We're not doing real well right now in how we're running things. Voting's the only answer - whatever way it is. If everybody has the right to vote, I think that's how things change and how things get better. That's how we get to a better place."
When asked about wearing the t-shirt to practice, D'Antoni cited "getting older" as part of the reason he's decided to speak up on this issue.
"When you're young, you think everything's good and you don't worry about these things, but we're in a time where you need to start doing your part," said D'Antoni. "The thing that everybody can do is vote. So, get out and register, take a friend, take a family. Just do it. Let's form a better union."
"Let's push America ahead and upwards and onwards," D'Antoni concluded.
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Houston spent time this week practicing an inbound play that coach Kelvin Sampson thought his team might need against Purdue.
Milos Uzan, the third option, ran it to perfection.
He tossed the ball to Joseph Tugler, who threw a bounce pass right back to Uzan, and the 6-foot-4 guard soared to the rim for an uncontested layup with 0.9 seconds left, giving the top-seeded Cougars a 62-60 victory — and a matchup with second-seeded Tennessee in Sunday's Elite Eight.
“Great execution at a time we needed that,” said Sampson, who is a win away from making his third Final Four and his second with Houston in five years. “You never know when you’re going to need it.”
The Cougars (33-4) made only one other basket over the final eight minutes, wasted a 10-point lead and then missed two more shots in the final 5 seconds. A replay review with 2.2 seconds left confirmed Houston would keep the ball when it rolled out of bounds after the second miss.
Uzan took over from there.
“I was trying to hit (L.J. Cryer) and then JoJo just made a great read,” Uzan said. “He was able to draw two (defenders) and he just made a great play to hit me back.”
Houston advanced to the Elite Eight for the third time in five years after falling in the Sweet 16 as a top seed in the previous two editions of March Madness. It will take the nation's longest winning streak, 16 games, into Sunday’s Midwest Region final.
The Cougars joined the other three No. 1 seeds in this year's Elite Eight and did it at Lucas Oil Stadium, where their 2021 tourney run ended with a loss in the Final Four to eventual national champion Baylor.
They haven't lost since Feb. 1.
Uzan scored 22 points and Emanuel Sharp had 17 as Houston survived an off night from leading scorer Cryer, who finished with five points on 2-of-13 shooting.
Houston still had to sweat out a half-court heave at the buzzer, but Braden Smith's shot was well off the mark.
Fletcher Loyer scored 16 points, Trey Kaufman-Renn had 14 and Smith, the Big Ten player of the year, added seven points and 15 assists for fourth-seeded Purdue (24-12). Smith assisted on all 11 second-half baskets for last year’s national runner-up, which played in front of a friendly crowd about an hour’s drive from its campus in West Lafayette.
“I thought we fought really hard and we dug down defensively to get those stops to come back,” Smith said. “We did everything we could and we just had a little miscommunication at the end and they converted. Props to them.”
Houston appeared on the verge of disaster when Kaufman-Renn scored on a dunk and then blocked Cryer’s shot with 1:17 to go, leading to Camden Heide’s 3 that tied the score at 60 with 35 seconds left.
Sampson called timeout to set up the final play, but Uzan missed a turnaround jumper and Tugler’s tip-in rolled off the rim and out of bounds. The Cougars got one more chance after the replay review.
Sharp's scoring flurry early in the second half finally gave Houston some separation after a back-and-forth first half. His 3-pointer at the 16:14 mark made it 40-32. After Purdue trimmed the deficit to four, Uzan made two 3s to give Houston a 10-point lead in a tough, physical game that set up a rare dramatic finish in this year's tourney.
“Smith was guarding the inbounder, so he had to take JoJo,” Sampson said. “That means there was no one there to take Milos. That's why you work on that stuff day after day.”
Takeaways
Purdue: Coach Matt Painter's Boilermakers stumbled into March Madness with six losses in their final nine games but proved themselves a worthy competitor by fighting their way into the Sweet 16 and nearly taking down a No. 1 seed.
Houston: The Cougars lead the nation in 3-point percentage and scoring defense, an enviable combination.
Scary fall
Houston guard Mylik Wilson gave the Cougars a brief scare with 13:23 left in the game. He leapt high into the air to grab a rebound and drew a foul on Kaufman-Renn.
As the play continued, Wilson was undercut and his body twisted around before he landed on his head. Wilson stayed down momentarily, rubbing his head, but eventually got up and remained in the game.