NBA will not Fine Players for Wearing “I Can’t Breathe” T-shirts

Chicago Bulls' Derrick Rose started a trend when he switched out his warm-up shirt for a t-shirt with the words, "I Can't Breathe." The phrase is in reference to the Eric Garner case. Since Rose donned the shirt, several other NBA players have followed suit. The league has announced that it would not fine the players.

Garner died this past July shortly after a police officer put Garner in a chokehold while attempting to arrest him in Staten Island. In the video clip, Garner voiced his discomfort by stating that he could not breathe. However, the police officer did not appear to loosen his hold on Garner.

Rose decided to wear the "I Can't Breathe" shirt during the warm-ups of this past Saturday's game against the Golden State Warriors. Although Rose did not comment on his decision to wear the shirt after the game, Bleacher Report followed up with Rose at the Bulls' practice on Monday. Rose explained that he wore the shirt for the kids.

"I grew up and I saw it every day. Not killing or anything like that, but I saw the violence every day. Just seeing what can happen. If anything, I'm just trying to change the kids' minds across the nation and it starts here," Rose said. "I had a kid two years ago. It probably would have been different. I probably wouldn't have worn the shirt. But now that I'm a dad, it's just changed my outlook on life, period. I don't want my son growing up being scared of the police or having the thought that something like that could happen."

He added, "Usually I'll stay out of politics and stay out of police brutality. I'm not saying all cops are bad or anything, I'm just saying what happened those days, it was uncalled for and I think that it hurt a lot of people. It hurt the nation."

Following in Rose's footsteps, NBA stars, LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Garnett, Deron Williams, Jarrett Jack and Alan Anderson all wore the shirt during warm-ups in the Cavs versus Nets game this past Monday at Barclays Center.

"Obviously, as a society we have to do better. We have to be better for one another. It doesn't matter what race you are. It's more of a shout out to the family more than anything, because they're the ones that should be getting all the energy and effort," LeBron stated when asked about the t-shirt.

LeBron's teammate, Irving added, according to ESPN, "I think it's really important that we show our respect to the families. More importantly we're in the city where tragedy happened and it's really important to us that we stand up for a cause, especially this one. It hits close to home and means a lot to me."

Although the league will not fine the players, NBA commissioner, Adam Silver, stated that the players do have a corporate responsibility to wear clothing made by Adidas, the league's official provider.

Silver said, reported by the Washington Post, "I respect Derrick Rose and all of our players for voicing their personal views on important issues but my preference would be for players to abide by our on-court attire rules."