Stephen Curry saw the cover of Sports Illustrated’s October issue, and he definitely did not like it.
The Warriors guard, who is among the sports figures featured prominently on the cover, told reporters Wednesday he didn’t like how the portrayal of “A Nation Divided, Sports United” omitted Colin Kaepernick. The former 49ers quarterback didn’t make the cover despite sparking protests of racial injustice and police brutality at the start of the 2016 NFL season.
“That was terrible,” Curry said. “It’s just kind of capitalizing on the hoopla and the media and all that nonsense. The real people that understand exactly what’s been going on and who’s really been active and vocal and truly making a difference — if you don’t have Kaepernick front and center on that, then something’s wrong.
“It’s kind of hard to see how certain narratives take place, being prisoners of the moment. … It’s about the true message and really highlighting the people that are doing the right things.”
The SI cover follows President Donald Trump’s criticism of NFL players protesting during the national anthem and decision to rescind the Warriors’ White House invitation after Curry had said publicly he would not want to make the trip to Washington, D.C. SI executive editor Steve Cannella addressed some of the criticism of the cover in a video for SI Now.
“In some ways, even though his picture’s not there, Colin Kaepernick is there,” Cannella said. “I think we all know that. Colin Kaepernick was, for lack of a better word, was looming over everything that happened this past weekend, and looms over many issues in society right now. I thought what we were trying to capture with this cover was the way new voices emerged this weekend, and the way this debate, this issue, this protest movement has sort of evolved even beyond Colin Kaepernick.
“He’s the guy who started it all. I think we saw a lot more people in various ways sort of join the movement, for lack of a better term, this weekend. That’s what we were trying to capture with this cover. Colin Kaepernick is on that cover, even his face and his name aren’t there. We all know who stands behind this movement. We all know who got it started. Colin Kaepernick has many more brothers today than he had a week ago.”
NBA players and coaches didn’t shy away from answering political questions at media days across the country. It doesn’t look like those questions will be disappearing any time soon, but Curry is clearly ready to face them.
