The NBA on TNT Inside Crew gets serious ahead of the inaugural in-season tournament semifinals held in Las Vegas Thursday night. The usually joking and laughing crew took some time to openly discuss their thoughts on gun control and the tragic events that unfolded at UNLV on Wednesday evening.
Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, and Kenny Smith all shared their thoughts on gun control and reacted to the shooting that happened a few miles from where they were sitting in the semi-finals of the season.
NBA Crew On TNT Reacts To UNLV Shooting And Gun Control Ahead Of Semifinals In Vegas
NBA on TNT – YouTube
“We are in Las Vegas this Thursday in December, where we think, our sole focus is on the semifinals of the tournament in the first NBA season. Wednesday changed that,” Johnson said. “Because less than three miles from the arena here, on the UNLV campus, there was chaos. It has happened again.”
Johnson continued to somberly describe the midday shooting that killed three people and hospitalized a fourth that happened on campus just about a mile from the world-famous Las Vegas Strip. It was reported that the shooter was a 67-year-old former college professor who may have applied for a job at the college and didn’t get it and is now dead after a confrontation with the police.
NBA on TNT – YouTube
“This is definitely not the way we envisioned going on the air and welcoming you to another night of NBA coverage on TNT,” Johnson continued. “There are times like this when real life far overshadows the fun conversations and games we do for a living.”
The NBA took a moment of silence before the Milwaukee Bucks took on the Indiana Pacers in their semifinal matchup early Thursday night. The league also released a statement on the UNLV shooting on Wednesday.
NBA on TNT – YouTube
After Wednesday’s shooting, LeBron James spoke publicly about gun control and now it’s Inside Crew’s turn to bring awareness to that important conversation.
“It’s Really Hard to Get a Gun”
NBA on TNT – YouTube
Barkley, who calls himself a “gunman” said the important thing is to keep talking about the issue and not let it become a “lackadaisical” topic.
“I think the main thing is, we have to keep talking about it and fighting for it, because, you know, it happens so much that you can be like, ‘Oh, it’s just another thing.’ We can never as a society get to the point where you’re just being lazy,” Barkley said before saying we need to hold our politicians accountable.
“It should be hard to get a gun. Now, I’m a gunman, I’d like to make it clear. I am a gunman. But, it should be difficult to get a gun but no, it is very easy.”
He then said that living in Arizona, he could walk into a store and get a gun in five minutes, and it shouldn’t be that easy.
Shaquille O’Neal And Kenny Smith Also Share Their Thoughts
NBA on TNT – YouTube
O’Neal, who has called Las Vegas his home for 30 years, offered his condolences to all those affected by the campus shooting and offered his thoughts on mental health.
“Mental health is real. And I urge people, if you’re having a problem, if you’re thinking, talk to someone and try to get help,” he said. “If you think about it, I don’t like to profile people but, the man is a professor. It’s not like he’s a guy who deals in criminal activity.”
The NBA legend then repeated what the NBA said – “another ridiculous shot.”
Smith then jumped in to pose questions to anyone, like Barkley, claiming to be the “gunman.”
“I always hear people say, like Charles said ‘I’m a gun guy,’ I always ask Charles the question, ‘When have you ever had to shoot that gun?'” Smith said to Barkley who jumped to reply, “Only when I practice, I never had to.”
Smith jumped back to repeat, “He didn’t have to give it up.”
“So my point is, it’s a ground-based solution for people who aren’t in the right frame of mind because most people don’t need to use it, even if you’re a gunman,” Smith said. “There has to be, as LeBron said, a thought process about how you get it and the people who have achieved it, they also have to meet some requirements.”
Johnson then added some thoughts saying he sees life differently now that he’s getting older. The 67-year-old said he now sees life “through the lens of my grown children” and wonders what kind of world they will face, which is scary.
“I just think when we see another incident of this, and you point it out, we can’t be immune, it can’t get to the point where we just accept this,” he said. “And until humanity overcomes politics and everything, I think we’ll be sad to see more.”
NBA Fans On Social Media Comment What They Think About The Issue
NBA on TNT shared a carousel of clips on Instagram of Inside Crew talking about the UNLV shooting and gun control, and basketball fans chimed in.
“You fix your mental health fix a lot of things related to this period,” wrote one. Another added, “Sad I haven’t seen anything about this anywhere.” Another shared the same statement saying, “The crazy thing is that I haven’t seen a single post about this shoot. We have become numb to it.”
Another follower jumped in to say, “This has been going on since the beginning of time nothing has changed it’s so sad and heartbreaking.”
A follower living in Canada said, “Nothing but facts from Chuck. I’m in Canada and sure we’re in from perfect too but it’s much harder to get a gun here, you have to take a safety course for a certain class of firearm and another for a higher class like a pistol. Also the higher class, you can’t just have it in your car or house like normal either. You can take it from home to the shooting range and that’s it and you also have to call and get approval to do this. Even stopping for gas is illegal and I am 100% for this. They need to make this difficult in the states as well. I’m sure it has saved a lot of people here.”
Categories: Trending
Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
