After the Warriors and Thunder game on Tuesday night, multiple players and coaches including Steve Kerr, Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Andrew Wiggins, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander met together with a common goal, to support Julius Jones and his family. The 40-year-old Oklahoma native was wrongly accused of murder almost 20 years ago. And at the time of the crime, Jones was a 19-year-old student-athlete attending the University of Oklahoma on an academic scholarship with a promising future.

Now Jones is held in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day, allowed one hour of sunlight a day, and promised three showers a week. This is brutal treatment for someone who has maintained his innocence with key evidence that has been pushed to the side. The NBA players and coaches that met with Jones’ family were hoping for some good news, but they were informed that his Clemency hearing had been postponed to November 1st.

Even though Julius wasn’t heard by the pardon and parole board, he was able to be heard by Steph Curry, who had a conversation with him over the phone. Steph reflected on his talk saying, “I come out of a basketball game, and you're celebrating a win in the locker room, and then you’re like, what’s it like in his shoes right now.” “It checks you a little bit, giving you appreciation for blessings in your life but also the work that needs to be done.”

Curry was right, there is still a tremendous amount of work that needs to be done in the world and in the judicial system. Eyewitness accounts put Jones at home during the time of the murder. His co-defendant admitted to being involved in the crime and said that he, “Set him up.” And even one of the jurors was reported as harboring racial prejudice, which influenced him to vote for the death row sentence. Finally, 11 out of the 12 jurors were white men or women voting to put an African American man away for good.

That is why Jones’ case is gaining so much traction in the NBA world, it isn’t right or fair to accuse a man over the color of his skin. Curry later stated, “There’s conversations and activism going on all around the world, but we have to continue to shed light on it as much as you can.” Other players like Blake Griffin, Russell Westbrook, and Trae Young have all spoken out in the defense of Julius and exactly what Curry was talking about.

Although Jones isn’t free yet, the mission remains the same, defend those who can’t defend themselves and keep pushing for change in the justice system. Jones is the prime example of this and has reached multiple platforms and people, including the Warriors.

(Photo courtesy of: Dr. Tiffany Crutcher)