Joe Biden quotes Sixers coach Rivers in Gettysburg speech

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Doc Rivers has officially been the Sixers' head coach for less than a week, but he's already being referenced in speeches by presidential candidates.

Rivers was quoted by Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden in a speech in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday. Biden's speech called for unity across the nation, including racial healing and equality, something that has been the forefront of the national conversation this summer.

Here's how Biden tied Rivers into his speech:

"Doc Rivers, the basketball coach, was choking back tears when he said, 'We're the ones getting killed. We're the ones getting shot. We've been hung. It's amazing how we're loving this country, when this country does not love us back.' I think about that. I think about what it takes for a Black person to love America. That is a deep love for this country, that has for far too long never been recognized."

The moment Biden was referencing came during the Clippers' playoff run this season in the NBA Bubble in Orlando. Rivers was reacting to the shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin in late August.

The shooting prompted nation-wide strikes by professional athletes, which began in the Bubble when the Milwaukee Bucks refused to play a first-round game against the Orlando Magic.

Numerous Sixers were vocal in calling out systemic racism, and pushing for social change, this summer. 

Tobias Harris called for Kentucky attorney general Daniel Cameron to arrest the police officers who shot and killed Breonna Taylor, a Black woman, in Louisville earlier this year.

Harris and Sixers rookie Matisse Thybulle were among a number of Philadelphia athletes to join in nationwide marches and protests against systemic racism and police brutality, particularly against Black people and minorities.

Earlier this month, Sixers star Ben Simmons endorsed Biden and Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris in the 2020 U.S. election. The election is scheduled for Nov. 3.

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