DENVER, COLORADO – JUNE 15: Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone rides on top of a firetruck with his family during the team's championship parade in downtown Denver on Thursday, June 15, 2023. Assistant Ryan Bowen. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)
Michael Malone just lived through the parade. He will soon be heading to Kansas City to watch his daughter play in a volleyball tournament there. Are you into sports? After seeing him on TV Wednesday afternoon? no way.
“I haven't heard any details about what type of gun or weapon was used in this incident,” the Nuggets coach said before his team played the Sacramento Kings at Ball Arena on Wednesday night. “People can't just buy guns and assault rifles and go kill people. I mean, how many more people have to die before that changes?”
Too many.
But one is too many.the everytime Too many. The First and Second Amendments have forever been vexed and contentious. Cheers to the first responders who protect innocent people and keep the threads of a worried nation from unraveling. But can we also agree that thoughts and prayers can't bring back the poor souls killed in the mass shooting near Kansas City's Union Station after the Chiefs' Super Bowl victory parade?
Even in a time of weaponized divisiveness, where sports are treated like politics and politics are treated like sports, when defenseless children are gunned down while celebrating community pride…maybe do not have. Also Do you mean guns? At least a little bit?
Can I say that part out loud?
Malone did. And he's not alone either.
“We all say, over and over again, 'We have to do something,'” he said in a ball arena interview room four and a half years ago, after the shooting that rocked the STEM school. Malone said she experienced similar feelings. Highland Ranch not far from his family's home.
“I'm not a politician. I don't know the answers. But I feel sorry for everyone that such a joyous occasion turned into a nightmare. And some of the 20 people who were shot… I hear it was a young child. And that makes it even more heartbreaking for all those people.”
Full disclosure: I'm married to a woman from Kansas City. I used to live and work there. I took my family to Union Station. I know the people who were there, from Chiefs staff and media to family and longtime friends. It's fair to say that Malone's views on firearms are not part of his job description. But neither of them hugged the teenager who had just scratched his head trying to escape the gunfire, something Kansas City coach Andy Reid reportedly was forced to do on Wednesday.
Like the Avs here and the Chiefs there, the Nuggets are in the midst of a title run. More parades will follow. So I asked Malone if he worries that events like the one in Kansas City will change the way championships are celebrated in the future. Are we at risk of losing the moment to come together again as a city, community, and state?
“That's…the people we put in power and we (elected officials) have to do a better job of finding ways to not (enable) all of this, whether it's locally or nationally. “I have to,” the coach answered. “Again, that's not my job. My job is to coach. But I have feelings. I'm a parent and I'm a member of this great country. We're better than ever. We have to do a much better job.”
The longer you do nothing, the more things will remain the same. Malone participated in the parade. No matter which political team you choose, he is right about one thing. No one has to die all at once.
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