The tragedy that took place at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., last week has had a ripple effect through the entire sports world. We’ve seen numerous examples of athletes doing what they can to pay tribute to the victims, and Joakim Noah continued that recently in a different kind of way.
While players like Victor Cruz paid tribute to a particular young boy and Chris Johnson wrote the names of all 26 victims on his cleats before Monday Night Football, Noah has decided to drop the six-shooter routine he does after hitting a jump shot.
“You can’t joke around with things like that,” Noah said after posting a triple-double in a win over the Boston Celtics on Tuesday, via NBA.com’s Steve Aschburner. “Too many people are dying because of guns. We have a problem here with guns. So just trying to be a little bit compassionate about what’s going on.
“It’s what happened in Connecticut. That was shocking to a lot of people. But things like this have been going on. We have a serious problem with that in Chicago. It’s crazy, man. You just hear about this summer, a movie theater. It’s just happening all the time. It’s horrible. … This gun thing in this country is no joke.”
In the same way we did with Jim Boeheim when he advocated for stricter gun laws after notching the 900th victory of his career, we applaud Noah for his awareness. On the surface, his little celebration routine may seem harmless. But anything a star athlete can do — or stop doing — to help call attention to an important issue needs to be done at a time like this. Good for Noah for knowing when to show some sensitivity, even if it means losing a trademark.
H/T Ball Don’t Lie
Photo credit: Mike DiNovo-US PRESSWIRE
