The death of George Floyd in Minnesota on Monday has compelled many to speak out against social injustice and police brutality.

As protests were taking place across the country, Friday night two prominent Sixers figures took to social media to convey messages.

The team’s current point guard, Ben Simmons, put out a short statement on Twitter.

Hall of Famer Allen Iverson’s message was shorter but no less powerful.

Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was killed after Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck while Floyd was handcuffed. The incident was caught on video by a witness. Chauvin was arrested Friday afternoon and charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. All four officers that were on the scene were fired.

Former NBA player Stephen Jackson, who knew Floyd personally while growing up in Texas, spoke as part of the protests in Minneapolis.

Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns, a little over a month after losing his mother Jacqueline to COVID-19, also stood in solidarity with Jackson.

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Ben Simmons, Allen Iverson join NBA players in speaking up in aftermath of George Floyd’s death originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Fallen footy star Ben Cousins is facing 15 charges including aggravated stalking and breaching a restraining order after he was arrested in Perth. 

The former West Coast Eagles captain was taken into custody on Wednesday after allegedly being found with methamphetamine in the suburb of East Victoria Park. 

Police had been searching for a vehicle that was seen driving erratically earlier in the day before finding it in Kensington around noon.

The 41-year-old was allegedly found asleep next to the car with 2.5 grams of ice.

WA Police refused to comment on the type of car Cousins was driving after it was located. 

He has also been charged with aggravated stalking and 13 charges relating to the breaching of a restraining order between April 2 and April 15.

Those charges do not relate to Wednesday’s incident and the victim is known to Cousins, police said. 

Cousins was placed in a holding cell at the Perth watch house and will face Armadale Magistrates Court on Thursday.

A white prison van believed to be transporting the former AFL player was photographed leaving the court in Perth on Thursday afternoon. 

The former premiership player and Brownlow medallist has been in and out of prison in recent years as he struggled with his meth addiction, and served almost one year behind bars for stalking his ex-partner Maylea Tinecheff.

He had been scheduled to face a trial last September over more alleged family violence offences, but after charges of stalking and threatening to harm Ms Tinecheff were dropped, he pleaded guilty to 12 lesser offences.

He was sentenced to eight months in prison but it was backdated and with time already served, he was able to walk free in August.

His lawyer Michael Tudori told AAP at the time his client was doing well and continuing to self-fund his rehabilitation with the Whitehaven Clinic, saying it was ‘a long road to recovery’.

The arrest comes just three weeks after Cousins appeared in a tell-all interview with Channel Seven where he opened up about his drug addiction.

Sporting long hair in a ponytail and a scruffy beard, Cousins admitted he’d ‘stuffed things up royally’ and that it was time to put things right.

‘I hope people can see I’m having a crack at turning it around,’ he said. 

But Cousins gave an unconvincing answer when asked if he was still using drugs.

‘I’m just thinking how… I’m just not sure about how to answer that,’ he said.

‘My issues have been more greater and complex than my drug use.

‘In a perfect world, I would’ve have liked come out the other side a long time ago. That hasn’t been the case.’

Cousins was tight-lipped when asked when was the last time he took drugs.

‘It’s just one of those things, I’d rather not go there,’ he said.

‘I don’t think it helps.’

‘Last week, last month?,’ Basil Zempilas pressed. 

Cousins replied: ‘Well…you know, not today is enough for me and it should be enough for other people.   

Cousins had this message to today’s youth about taking drugs.

‘I would encourage them to think long and hard before they decide to go down that path,’ Cousins said. 

‘Just be aware of the ramifications and take it seriously.’

Confronting footage from the interview also showed a furious Cousins in the backseat of a car, ranting about the custody of his kids. 

‘I don’t think a mother plays any more of an important role than the bloke does,’ Cousins says in the rant filmed in February.

‘It needs to be stopped. Every time I see the coppers I say to them ”you guys have let me down”.

‘The community has let me down. My family, her family, have let me down. This has gone on for too long.  

‘If I get to a point where and I’m going to pick a cause single-mindedly… or with that cause towards you – I want there to be carnage.

‘Blood will spill. So, it’s up to you guys so if you want to change this.’

Cousins described the mother of his children, Maylea Tinecheff, as the most defiant person he’d ever known – and said he wanted underworld figure Mick Gatto to  mediate access to his two children. 

He said he was willing to give his Brownlow Medal to Gatto in return.  

‘I’ve never met anyone as defiant. You know? Mick Gatto couldn’t tell her what to do,’ Cousins said.

‘Mick … I’m just telling you – and I honestly was going to get him to come over, I was going to give him my Brownlow – to mediate.

‘That’s how big a thing it was, you know?’

In a rare light-hearted moment during the documentary, Cousins was reminded about a nude photo of him after a spray tan that surfaced on social media last year.

‘Mate, there’s a fantastic photo of Ben at a spray tan place,’ a man can heard saying off-camera.

‘Oh please,’ Cousins laughed.

‘You posted it,’ Zempilas told him. 

Cousins replied: ‘I didn’t actually, that was the problem. I can’t believe it happened the way it did.

‘I wasn’t doing someone a favour. I was trying to get a root, that’s what I was trying to do basically. That wasn’t supposed to go anywhere.’  

The pair laughed when Zempilas said it wasn’t the worst thing Cousins had ever done.

The infamous photo never got the desired result.

‘No ships, only hardships,’ Cousins said.  

He was grilled about his tumultuous relationship with the mother of his children and former partner, Maylea Tinecheff. 

In January 2018, Cousins was released from prison after serving 10 months of the one-year sentence for breaching a restraining order taken out by Ms Tinecheff.

He was back in jail months later following charges making threats and breaking a violence restraining order.

He spent eight months in jail until his release on bail last April. 

Two charges of stalking and threatening to harm Ms Tinecheff were later dropped.

Cousins later pleaded guilty to the remaining 12 offences of breaching a violence restraining order and was sentenced to eight months in prison, which he had already served.

‘As you know, I wasn’t convicted of some of those things’, Cousins told Zempilas.

‘But I agree with you yeah, some of it is inexcusable.’

When asked if he was embarrassed about where he ended up, Cousins replied: ‘I’m not proud.’ 

Fallen AFL star Ben Cousins will return to court today to complete his bail application, as he prepares to fight nearly all new charges against him, including aggravated stalking in Perth.

The former West Coast Eagles captain was arrested on Wednesday after allegedly being found with about 2.5 grams of methamphetamine in East Victoria Park.

Police had earlier been searching for a vehicle that was seen driving erratically in nearby Kensington.

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Cousins, 41, was also charged with aggravated stalking and 13 counts of breaching a violence restraining order between April 2 and 15. Those charges relate to his ex-partner Maylea Tinecheff, whom he allegedly tried to contact via phone more than 100 times.

Allrounder Ben Stokes could be returning to New Zealand again this summer.

Stokes, who played a short spell for Canterbury in the Ford Trophy, has been named in the England Twenty squad play Australia and New Zealand in a tri-series tournament.

“Ben Stokes is included, though his involvement remains subject to any relevant legal or disciplinary developments in relation to the incident in Bristol in September,” a press release by England Cricket stated.

“Should the ECB Board receive formal confirmation that Stokes has either been charged or that he will face no charges, they would convene within 48 hours to make a decision on his availability for the team at that stage,” the release continued.

Stokes spent a month in New Zealand late last year visiting his parents in Christchurch and playing for Canterbury in the Ford Trophy 50 overs competition and Twenty20 Super Smash League.

The 26-year-old New Zealand-born allrounder is currently suspended from the England team as he waits to learn whether he will be charged over his role in an incident outside a nightclub in the England city of Bristol in September.

Stokes had mixed fortunes on the field in his brief stint with Canterbury. He scored 36 runs in three 50 overs matches while taking 1-144 and he scored 133 runs in three Twenty20 innings, taking two wickets.

Stokes has been named in England’s squad for a one-day series in Australia in January but his selection is provisional on any future legal action.

Suspended England all-rounder Ben Stokes has been withdrawn from the squad for this month’s five-match one-day international series against Australia and was replaced by batsman Dawid Malan, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said on Monday.

Stokes, who was provisionally named in England’s squad, is awaiting a decision on whether he will be charged by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for his involvement in an altercation outside a Bristol nightclub in September.

The ECB said he would not travel with the group of players leaving for Australia on Tuesday and his availability will depend on CPS advice.

“Should ECB receive formal confirmation that he has either, a) been charged or, b) will face no charges, the ECB board would convene within 48 hours to make a decision on his availability to represent England at that stage,” said the ECB on ecb.co.uk.

The ECB said Stokes has been cleared to participate in the player draft for the Indian Premier League Twenty20 tournament.

The first one-day international between Australia and England will be played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on January 14th.

– (Reuters)

NEW YORK – Former NBA star Ben Gordon‘s legal troubles continued over the weekend when he was arrested for allegedly driving with a forged license plate.

Gordon, a Mount Vernon High School alum, was stopped by New York City police at Frederick Douglas Boulevard and 129th Street in Manhattan just after 9 p.m. Sunday, when officers saw what appeared to be a laminated temporary license plate on his car.

A computer check revealed a different expiration date than was displayed on the license plate, according to an NYPD spokesperson.

He was charged with criminal possession of a forged instrument, a misdemeanor, and released without bail. The Manhattan District Attorney‘s Office did not have information on when he must appear in court.

Last month, after police responded to a confrontation between him and his girlfriend in Mount Vernon.

In June, he was arrested in Los Angeles after police accused him of setting off fire alarms in an apartment building. Gordon missed a court appearance in that case and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

Gordon led the University of Connecticut to a national championship as a junior in 2004 before entering the NBA draft. He was selected third by the Chicago Bulls and following the season became the first rookie to ever win the league‘s Sixth Man Award.

His 11-year career included stops in Detroit, Orlando and Charlotte, but fizzled after two preseason games with the Golden State Warriors in 2015.

Gordon tried a comeback earlier this year by playing with the Texas Legends of the NBA G-League.

He opened his new sports-training and rehab business in Mount Vernon, Of Our Own, in September.

On Oct. 21, police officers responded to a call for assistance to find a woman crying inside and claiming she was locked in.

They got her out and she told them Gordon had a knife. A detective looked inside and saw Gordon with a box cutter, but when police later went in and took him out, no box cutter was found.

He was not charged but instead sent to St. Vincent‘s Hospital in Harrison for evaluation.

The 31-year-old woman, who lives in Los Angeles, returned to California the following day. Social media posts showed she was with Gordon again in recent weeks and back in New York this past weekend.

A spokesman for the Los Angeles city attorney said that the bench warrant was still open. He would not answer questions about how widely the warrant was disseminated. The NYPD spokesperson would not say whether the warrant turned up during Gordon‘s arrest Sunday night.