Days after assisting a food truck that had been graffitied with an anti-Asian racial slur and offensive images, Utah Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson says there is “just no room” for racist incidents.
Clarkson stepped in to help the World Famous Yum Yum Food Truck, a Filipino food truck based in Utah, which was spray-painted with an anti-Asian slur and an image of a face with slanted eyes.
After seeing images of the truck, the 29-year-old Clarkson took to Twitter, saying he was “deeply hurt” to see it had been vandalized.
“I know the pain that hateful language and racism causes” he said.
The truck was restored with the help of local politicians, businesses, and Clarkson.
“It has been an emotional few days,” the truck’s owners said on Facebook. “The love and support that we got from all of you has been deeply heartfelt. My family can’t thank you guys enough.
“Special thanks to Utah Jazz’s Jordan Clarkson and Dan from Identity graphics for the new look. We want to thank everyone individually in a couple weeks when we have our LOVE celebration in the park and feed the community.”
The incident is the latest in a string of anti-Asian incidents in the United States in recent months and years.
According to the most recent New York Police Department (NYPD) crime statistics report, hate crimes against Asian people in New York City increased by 335 percent in 2021 compared to the same period last year.
Clarkson, who is Filipino-American, was deeply affected by the incident involving the food truck in Utah.
Clarkson said racist incidents like the one he assisted with “have to go out the window real quick” after the Jazz beat the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday to take a 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series.
“If you want me to be real honest, my first reaction was: ‘This is bullst!'” Clarkson told ESPN. “I was just like, we can’t be f*ing doing this.
“Those were the exact words that came out of my mouth to my boys, my family and everybody that was around me. So they were like, let’s do something [about it].
“There’s just no room for that,” Clarkson added, “especially right now. It’s been tough, tough years on this earth, this country, this world.
“There’s a lot of stuff going on. I feel like us together, and everybody finding a peace, will make things a lot more comforting in this world. We ain’t got no room for the hate no more. That’s got to go out of the window real quick.”
The Jazz beat the Clippers 117-111 thanks to Clarkson’s 24 points off the bench.
The Milwaukee Bucks came back from a potentially insurmountable 3-0 deficit against the superstar Brooklyn Nets to win a crucial game to keep their playoff series alive.
The Bucks were much more aggressive from the start at home on Thursday, racing to a 30-11 lead in the first quarter after two passive performances in Brooklyn.
The Nets rallied behind superstars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, but Jrue Holiday’s basket with 11.4 seconds left sealed the 86-83 victory, putting them up 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.
While the offense was more fluid than in previous meetings — Khris Middleton had 35 points and Giannis Antetokounmpo had 33 — Holiday credited the Bucks’ victory to their defense.
After the game, Holiday told the media, “Defense first.” “Defense wins games, and championships are won by defense. It means a lot to me that I was able to get a stop even with two seconds left. I believe that’s the type of defense we want to play, with them scoring 83 points.
“If we got to muck up the game, then we got to muck it up. But when it comes down to it, we want to be aggressive on everyone.”
On Sunday, the Bucks will try to tie the series at three games apiece.
