These Two Black NBA Players Were Kicked Off An American Airlines Flight After Being Wrongfully Accused Of Stealing A Blanket
American Airlines should be ashamed of itself.
That's because American Airlines kicked two NBA G League basketball players — Memphis Hustle guard Marquis Teague and his teammate, forward Trahson Burrell — off its flight 3756 from Dallas to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on Christmas Eve after wrongfully accusing them of stealing a blanket.
According to The Undefeated, two first-class passengers gave Teague and Burrell, who are both Black, their blankets as a kind gesture. But when Burrell and Teague sat down in their seats, they were accused of stealing the blankets by a flight attendant, who is also Black, as reported by The Daily Mail.
That accusation reportedly led to Burrell having some choice words for the flight attendant, who refused to fly unless the two Hustle players got off the plane, as reported by The Undefeated. American Airlines wound up putting Burrell and Teague on a later flight to Sioux Falls and they missed a team holiday dinner.
Hustle coach Glynn Cyprien and assistant coach Darnell Lazare voiced their disgust over the incident with these tweets Sunday.
An American Airlines spokesperson told The Undefeated that the company has apologized to the players, while offering this statement to the website.
“We apologize for what occurred on this flight,” American Airlines spokesperson Joshua Freed said. “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].”
The incident will be investigated further by the NBA G League team as well.
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