Kyrie Irving produces TV special spotlighting Breonna Taylor’s death

Kyrie Irving has produced an upcoming special about Breonna Taylor in which a call to action is made in reaction to the circumstances surrounding her death, per an AP report shared by ESPN.

Taylor was killed on March 13 in Louisville, Ky., during the execution of a search warrant by plainclothes police officers searching for narcotics. The 26-year-old Black emergency medical technician was shot eight times.

No drugs were found in her home, and outrage over her death became a rallying cry amid the more widespread social unrest later inspired by the May 25 death of George Floyd while in Minneapolis police custody, among other incidents of recent police misconduct.

Irving has been among the more outspoken professional athletes as the Black Lives Matter and other social justice movements have flourished over the past month. The Brooklyn Nets star said it’s imperative to highlight cases of police brutality and associated injustices, as it is “critical to magnify how these unjust behaviors and practices are directly impacting Black women.”

Irving, who underwent season-ending shoulder surgery in February before the NBA went on hiatus, will not be joining the Nets in Orlando, Fla., at the Walt Disney World Resort’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex for the season restart tentatively scheduled for July 30.

While that’s hardly a surprise given Irving is still rehabbing, he provides an interesting case given the Nets star was among the players who strongly criticized the NBA’s return-to-play plans.

Irving expressed unease over the league’s return to action amid the social unrest and burgeoning Black Lives Matter movement.

“I don’t support going into Orlando,” Irving said on a conference call last month that involved 80-plus NBA players, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic. “… Something smells a little fishy.”

The optics of Black NBA players returning to the court amid ongoing protests and outrage over systemic racism and social injustice troubled Irving, which resulted in another NBA superstar sharing the same concerns.

Given the reasons behind Irving’s reservations, the Taylor project obviously falls in line with what the NBA star aspires to accomplish during this period of social awakening.

“#SAYHERNAME: BREONNA TAYLOR” will debut Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET on the PlayersTV digital and broadcast network.