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Raptors' Powell: Options for social justice statement were 'cookie-cutter'

Vaughn Ridley / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Toronto Raptors guard Norman Powell criticized the NBA and NBPA's approved list of social justice statements players can put on their jerseys, calling the 29 available options "cookie-cutter."

"I was really disappointed in the options that were given to us. ... I felt like the list was very cookie-cutter and doesn't really touch the topics of what we're trying to achieve," Powell told reporters Thursday, according to Sportsnet.

He added, "I wish there wasn't even a list. It's a topic where it's freedom of speech, and you're taking your name off the back of your jersey to put something that matters to you ...

"We shouldn't be boxed in. ... As long as it wasn't anything explicit or any cursing in your saying, you should've been able to put whatever you want on the back of your jersey because it is your last name that you're removing. It's you and it speaks to yourself."

Powell ultimately chose to have "Black Lives Matter" on the back of his jersey, but he said he would've used "Am I Next?" if he wasn't limited to the listed options.

Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James also took issue with the list, saying the available choices "didn't seriously resonate" with his goals. James and his teammate Anthony Davis won't have a social justice statement on the back of their jerseys.

Powell added that all proceeds from his Understand the Grind clothing line will go toward Black causes, according to The Athletic's Blake Murphy.

On Wednesday, New Orleans Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday and his wife Lauren, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, announced that they'll be using his remaining salary this season to start their own social justice fund.

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