Retired NBA star Tyrone “Muggsy” Bogues, formerly of the Charlotte Hornets, still lives in the North Carolina city. But after violent protests broke out this week, he said he doesn’t recognize the city he loves.
“This is not the city that I came to in 1988,” Bogues told CNN’s Kate Bolduan.
Protests erupted following the death of Keith Lamont Scott, who was shot Tuesday while police tried to serve a warrant for another man. Police say that Scott walked out of his his car with a gun and was shot when he wouldn’t drop the weapon. Scott’s family have said he was unarmed and reading a book in his vehicle.
Bogues, 51, said he sympathized with the community’s outrage.
“People are angry. I understand that,” he told CNN.
“Too many things are happening, too many lives are being lost without there being any explanation. I know people have a job to do, but people need transparency. People are really angry, people are tired of our men being gunned down.”
But violence isn’t the answer, the athlete emphasized, after chaos left one person shot and an officer hurt.
“There’s nothing wrong with nonviolent protesting to let folks know we need a change. And it needs to be done. The folks that’s out here looting, out here causing the violence, that’s a different type of protesting,” said Bogues, who played for the Hornets during the 1990s.
“These folks are angry because of other issues possibly, and then they are creating situations that compound the situation,” he added.
Charlotte’s residents need to come together, Bogues said.
“We all just got to sit down and hear one another. We are human beings first. There’s no color. We are human beings. When are we going to get back to having human rights being heard, regardless of the color, regardless of industry, regardless of status? We are equal,” he said.