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NBA 2K pauses play for hours to honor George Floyd. Here’s what it looked like online

The entire world has paused as demonstrators across the U.S. take to the streets to bring attention to racial injustice and police brutality, sparked by the troubling death of George Floyd, a black man who died last week in police custody in Minneapolis.

As his memorial service was held Thursday in Minneapolis, many people and businesses — even a video game — chose to honor Floyd’s memory and the Black Lives Matter movement.

According to ESPN, NBA 2K, a basketball simulation video game, paused for two hours in Floyd’s honor.

NBA 2K even provided players with free, in-game “Black Lives Matter” and “I Can’t Breathe” shirts, which were wore by NBA players in 2014 in reference to the final words uttered by Eric Garner, a young black man who was killed while in police custody in New York City.

Floyd, with a police officer’s kneed pressed his neck, also cried out, saying “I can’t breathe.”

NBA 2K players were taking screenshots and videos of the game as it was in pause.

This story was originally published June 4, 2020 at 7:37 PM with the headline "NBA 2K pauses play for hours to honor George Floyd. Here’s what it looked like online."

TJ Macias
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
TJ Macías is a Real-Time national sports reporter for McClatchy based out of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. Formerly, TJ covered the Dallas Mavericks and Texas Rangers beat for numerous media outlets including 24/7 Sports and Mavs Maven (Sports Illustrated). Twitter: @TayloredSiren
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