NBA

‘Change Is Needed at All Levels': NBA Players, Teams React to Video of Tyre Nichols' Police Beating

Nichols, 29, was pulled over by five Memphis police officers on Jan. 7

The Minnesota Timberwolves and Memphis Grizzlies hold a moment of silence for Tyre Nichols at Target Center in Minneapolis on Friday.
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NBA players, as well as their teams and the league office, took to Twitter on Friday to react to the release of video showing the brutal police beating that led to the death of Black motorist Tyre Nichols in Memphis.

Nichols, 29, was pulled over by five Memphis police officers on Jan. 7. The video footage shows him being brutally beaten, and he would die in a hospital three days later. The five officers were fired and charged with second-degree murder.

The statements from around the NBA lamented Nichols' death and extended support to Nichols' family.

Several other teams, including the Miami Heat, Cleveland Cavaliers, Minnesota Timrberwolves and Milwaukee Bucks, also released statements.

The Grizzlies are the only major sports team in Memphis. They wrapped up a five-game road trip in Minnesota Friday and are scheduled to return to FedEx Forum on Sunday. The Grizzlies and Timberwolves held a moment of silence in Nichols' honor prior to Friday's tipoff.

Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins addressed Nichol's death in his pregame press conference, about an hour before the scheduled release of the video.

"Our city is struggling right now. Our city is coping with the loss of one of our own in Tyre Nichols. It's devastating," Jenkins said.

Jenkins said his team had talked "multiple times" about the killing and that they "can't wait to get back home to put [their] arms around everyone in Memphis as they struggle with a ... senseless loss of life."

Jenkins also spoke about Nichols' family -- particularly his mom, whose interview earlier that day brought him to tears.

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