Matt Kemp found himself an unwanted part in the Donald Sterling audio fiasco, after the extended recording was released Sunday.
Kemp took a picture with Sterling’s girlfriend V. Stiviano which was posted on her Instagram page, which became the crux of Sterling’s racist rant where he bemoaned about her posting photos of ‘black people’.
Kemp addressed the matter just before Sunday’s Dodgers vs Rockies game, via ESPN LA:
“I was shocked,…I was really shocked. I haven’t been to a basketball game since maybe last year, and I did take my mom. I met the young lady, I’ve known her through mutual people. We all sat in the same [area].
“I remember taking the picture, but I didn’t think it would ever come to this. This is crazy. Racism is kinda old. For real,…honestly, I just feel sorry for him that he feels that way about African-American people. There’s just no room for racism in any of our games. This is bigger than the game. I’m just shocked that people still feel that way toward Latins, blacks, white people. We are all the same. We all bleed the same.”
Well said by Kemp, who then decided to change his walk-up music to Michael Jackson’s ‘Black or White’ after a teammate started playing the song.