Terrorists take over Capitol and athletes wonder what would happen if they were Black

As domestic terrorists stormed the U.S. Capitol in a coup attempt on Wednesday, the world was glued to screens watching the drama unfold. That includes the sports world, as athletes past and present had takes on what was going on.

Basketball legend Bill Russell questioned the security response, wondering how different things might have looked if the insurgents had been Black, while also noting the presence of a Confederate flag in the Capitol.

Rex Chapman, another former NBA player and now prolific tweeter, also marveled at Capitol Police refraining from violently dispersing the crowd as it did with so many Black Lives Matter protests this past summer.

Mets pitcher Marcus Stroman followed up on Chapman’s tweet, calling the incident out for what it was:

Stroman had more to say, calling back to the summer protests and response of the National Guard.

Ditto for Ravens wide receiver Dez Bryant, who knew that if there had been a different racial makeup of the group storming the Capitol, there would have been a lot of people getting killed.

Free agent outfielder Delino DeShields Jr. had the same kind of amazed reaction to it all as so many of the rest of us, just amazed to see this happening.

Similar to his sister, Chicago Sky guard Diamond DeShields.

Niners defensive back Richard Sherman has this to say about these domestic terrorists:

And Broncos’ safety Justin Simmons made this astute observation:

While Pelicans coach Stan Van Gundy wondered exactly how to classify the criminals breaking into the Capitol…

...Liberty guard Layshia Clarendon knew just what they were doing.

Naturally, as with so much with regard to social issues and sports lately, it was the WNBA ahead of the curve.

Tim Tebow?

Not so much.