Kings captain Anze Kopitar comes forward to condemn racism and prejudice
If you log on to Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, or turn on the news at home, you're likely to be inundated with stories of the current state of the United States of America.
Last week, the world stood witness to a hate crime in the form of police brutality, as a Minneapolis police officer knelt down on the back and neck of George Floyd, while he pled with officers to let him breathe, called out for his mom and cried while he began to asphyxiate under the weight of the cop on his back, all while handcuffed and placed under arrest for attempting to use counterfeit currency.
With San Jose Sharks forward Evander Kane speaking out this week, calling for more support from his white colleagues and other players from around the league and even from different leagues, challenging them to stand up and speak out against racism and prejudice of all kinds, we are beginning to see a response to his pleas.
On Sunday, Los Angeles Kings forward Anze Kopitar became the latest caucasian athlete to come forward and offer his words of support for the black community. Here's what he had to say:
"I know that I'll never understand what it is like to be black in America. What I do know is that it's time to be better and do better. It is our responsibility to advocate for justice and equality, and to condemn racism and prejudice of all forms. We cannot stay silent. We must work towards a better future."
In the face of all of the looting and rioting occurring in the US right now, athletes - and really anyone with a public forum -need to let their voices be heard. People are dying. Businesses are being vandalized and destroyed. Change is needed, I think that's one thing we can all agree on. But not like this. With so many human beings in the world, we sure seem to have misplaced our humanity.
Kopitar joins other NHL captains such as Logan Couture of the San Jose Sharks and Blake Wheeler of the Winnipeg Jets in offering support to the black community in this very difficult time.
|
YESTERDAY
MAY 14, 2026
| ||||
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Nick Suzuki | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Juraj Slafkovsky | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Pavel Dorofeyev | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Ivan Demidov | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Mitch Marner | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Shea Theodore | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Phillip Danault | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Lane Hutson | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Josh Anderson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Cole Caufield | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Josh Doan | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jake Evans | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Mikael Granlund | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Konsta Helenius | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Brett Howden | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Alexandre Texier | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jason Zucker | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Rasmus Andersson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ivan Barbashev | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Leo Carlsson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||