Carmelo Anthony Big Brother Role Towards Collin Kaepernick

When Colin Kaepernick begin his protest of the national anthem he drove mainstream media into a frenzy. Many were upset with the quarterback’s decision, but Carmelo Anthony encouraged him to keep fighting the good fight.

During a conversation with Howard Bryant of The Undefeated, the New York Knicks superstar revealed that he initially counseled Kaepernick the night he began his peaceful protest.

“I spoke to Kaepernick that night,” Anthony said. “He reached out to me that night, and I’m watching and I’m like, ‘OK.’ Like, ‘What’s next?’ In a very respectful way, he was like, ‘I took this step and, you know, just wanted to get your thoughts on what’s happening.’”

Carmelo said he advised him to keep going and helped him think of ways to further his message and mission.  “And I said, ‘Well, you’re courageous… You just showed a lot of courage in what you just did, but now is the hard part because you have to keep it going. So if that was just a one-time thing, then you’re fucked.,” the Knicks player added. And to add meaning to his movement, Melo told Kaepernick to “be articulate and elaborate on why you’re doing it, and be educated and knowledgeable of why you’re doing it. So when people ask, you can stand up for what you believe in and really let them hear why.”

Carmelo’s words didn’t fall on deaf ears. In addition to taking a knee during each game’s national anthem ceremony, Kaepernick has dedicated many of his press conferences to discussing police brutality and the injustices happening throughout the United States. And backing words with action, Kaepernick has vowed to dedicate his first million in earnings as well as the profits from his jersey sales to organizations and causes fighting for social change.

Carmelo Anthony has been active in the Black Lives Matter movement, even showing up at a protest for Freddie Gray last year. Inspired by Kaepernick’s momentum, Anthony has reportedly reached out to his NFL counterpart to discuss what the next steps are for the movement.

Change has to come from those with influence on both sides, but it’s great to see two prominent athletes willing to put their respective reputations on the line to help better their communities.