Dawn Staley met with media via Zoom for about 35 minutes Friday afternoon. She spoke passionately about the work stoppages across sports, racial issues facing blacks, voting, and the upcoming season.
- It was a footnote as Staley spoke on more important topics, but she did say that the plan as of today is to start basketball season on time. There are contingency plans to delay the start date ten days or longer. Basketball has the advantage of using football and soccer as “guinea pigs.”
-Staley talked about her feelings after seeing unarmed Jacob Blake shot in the back seven times. “It’s frustrating. It’s tiresome. (....) I don’t know how many more we’ll have to witness. (...) I hope I don’t get to a place where I’m numb.”
- Staley did not participate in Friday’s march in downtown Columbia (she was visiting her sister), but Destiny Littleton was marching. The team has a Zoom meeting scheduled for Friday night. Staley also said she is inspired by Laeticia Amihere’s commitment to social issues. “She might be the Prime Minister of Canada one day.”
- In the past few years Staley has become more outspoken about racial inequality and political issues. She said there was no particular moment that inspired her to become more vocal, but it is part of her embrace of South Carolina. “My purpose coming down here was more than winning national championships, and now I know what it was.” She also said, “I’m on this zoom call because I put out a tweet. (...) If you are getting a response from someone, then they hear you. They may not like it, but they hear you.”
She also said, “If I Tweet something, it comes from the heart,” adding, “I’ve got thick skin.”
- Staley talked about the importance of voting. She said all but two players are registered, and they are in the process of getting those two registered. There are no concrete plans for election day, but Staley is open to using Colonial Life Arena as a polling location, and she hopes that the team will be able to help voters get to their polling location.
- Staley tries not to impose her views on her players, but she does feel an obligation to stand up for them. She wants them to “digest what is happening” and come to their own conclusions. When she Tweets, the players respond. “All the responses come flying in.”
- Staley reiterated her support for renaming the Strom Thurmond Center. “Anything that represents racial divide shouldn’t be on a college campus,” she said. “It shouldn’t be part of our university and it shouldn’t be part of our existence.”
- In a Tweet Monday, Staley said that she was in support of canceling sports to make a point about racial injustice. When that came to pass Wednesday, she supported it. “It’s drastic things that are happening in the world. To change, it has to be (equally drastic).
- Staley said she hopes her team would never feel like they needed to skip a game, saying “Hopefully we’ll have discussions prior to it coming to that.” But if the players decided they didn’t want to play, “who am I to stand in their way?”
- Staley praised the WNBA for its leadership on social justice matters. She also said it is important for the NBA to join in. “They are the millionaires that can get into some rooms that we can’t.”
- Staley was recently named to the SEC Council on Racial Equity and Social Justice. The council has not met yet, but the first meeting will be in early September.. Staley emphasized that she is on the council to create change. “I’m not just a name.. I’m not going to be used as a name, I’m going to voice some things that need to change across our league. If we change our league I think other conferences will follow.”
