Yesterday (Oct. 11), after months in the NBA bubble, the Los Angeles Lakers closed out the basketball season and ended their championship drought with a win against the Miami Heat. Celebrities and sports enthusiasts took to Twitter to react to the news.
Rihanna gloated, singing “We Are the Champions” in an Instagram post, and Snoop Dogg dedicated several posts to the victory of the L.A. team. Plies, however, took things a step further and made an interesting recommendation.
The “Bust It Baby” rapper took to Twitter to suggest that the Lakers gift Breonna Taylor’s family with their newly won championship trophy.
“I think it would be dope if the Los Angeles Lakers gave the NBA championship trophy to Breonna Taylor’s family!!!” he tweeted.
The now-deleted comment was met with users questioning how a trophy would actually help the Taylor case and others suggesting a much better solution: the arrest of the officers responsible for the late EMT’s death.
Taylor’s family has been demanding justice since she was fatally shot in her home at the hands of Louisville officers. They were given $12 million as part of a wrongful death lawsuit, but no criminal charges were made in connection with her actual death.
Prior to the grand jury’s decision, Lakers players collectively expressed their support for Taylor by donning hats that called for the arrest of the officers involved.
Other NBA teams spoke out in support of Taylor’s justice and promised her mother, Tamika Palmer, that they would continue to use their platforms to demand that the officers who were involved in her daughter’s death be held accountable.
“What is being done by the NBA and the WNBA is amazing,” Palmer said at the time. “Everyone raising their voices for justice are what keeps this family going each day…Bree should be with us. The world was a better place with her.”