Two NBA G-leaguers were forced to miss a team Christmas dinner because they were too busy being racially profiled by the airline they were patronizing.
Full details via The Undefeated:
The incident took place after Memphis Hustle guard Marquis Teague and forward Trahson Burrell boarded American Airlines Flight 3756 operated by Envoy from Dallas to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on Sunday. Two first-class passengers gave Teague, a former NBA player, and Burrell their blankets as a kind gesture as they headed to their seats. When Teague and Burrell arrived in coach, a flight attendant accused them of stealing the blankets, a source said, which led to an argument
The players became even more upset after the flight attendant continued to accuse them of stealing free blankets, which led to the pilot refusing to leave until they were kicked off the plane. They were bumped to a later flight which resulted in both players and a Hustle assistant coach missing the team’s Christmas dinner.
Head coach Glynn Cyprien & assistant Darnell Lazare then took to Twitter to offer thoughts on the situation:
American Airlines Needs Sensitivity Training to Attendants on flights dealing with Humans & Blankets! ????????✈️????????♂️
— Glynn Cyprien (@CoachCyprien) December 24, 2017
It’s 2017 and a Flight attendant for @AmericanAir sees 2 young black athletes with blankets from first class, his 1st comment is “did you steal them” how about you teach people to get the facts first before jumping to conclusions. ????#beingblackinamerican
— Darnell Lazare (@Dhouse35) December 24, 2017
American Airlines offered up what will amount to a weak apology because I’m pretty sure nothing in their standard policies or procedures will change:
“We apologize for what occurred on this flight,” American Airlines spokesman Joshua Freed told The Undefeated. “We take pride in bringing people together, and we know that on this flight we let some of our customers down. Our team at American, along with Envoy Air, is reviewing what happened and will be reaching out to [the two players and the assistant coach].”