Asian teen called racial slur, assaulted, suffers concussion during youth basketball game in California

Brendan Boucher
The Post Millennial
Tue, 04 May 2021 18:44 UTC

© Andy Ngo/Twitter

Screen shot of the assault on an Asian teen at a basketball tournament in Oakland, CA.

A California teen is recovering from a concussion after he was punched and called anti-Asian slurs by opposing players during a youth basketball game.

The teenager, who has not been identified, participated in a youth basketball tournament in San Francisco when he was punched in the face and called racial slurs by two opposing players. The two players who are also not identified are members of the San Francisco Generals basketball team, a summer basketball program in the San Francisco region.

The tournament was being held in San Francisco by Grassroots 365. It was initially widely reported that the tournament was part of a larger amateur sports body known as Amateur Athletic Union (AAU); however, AAU has since clarified that there is no association. This is despite the San Francisco Generals claiming on their now-deleted Instagram profile to be a part of the organization.

Grassroots 365 is also being labelled as nefarious after it was reported by KPIX 5 that Grassroots 365 frequently deletes negative comments and reviews off their social media. Grassroots 365 released a statement on social media about the incident after many parents complained about their initial response.

The parent of the boy who was punched, Olivia, said, "How was a technical foul not called when he was obviously punching him in the face? They said, 'Oh, we saw what happened,' and I was pressing them because I said, 'If you saw what happened, you should not let that go!'" The Generals also used anti-Asian slurs against the opposing team, which consisted of many Asian players.

It is unclear if any supplemental action was taken against the two boys in the video punching the Asian boy. No details have been released by the teams or in Grassroots 365's statement.

Comment: KPIX further reported:

After several frustrated parents confronted the tournament director, they agreed the player who threw the punch would be banned for Sunday's game but Olivia said the player who initially pushed Evan was not pulled from play.

"We pay a lot of money, a lot of families pay a lot of money for this AAU," Lennie said.

"It just makes parents not want to pay all this money to put their kids in danger if they're not going to be protected and be safe," said Olivia. "That's sad, because they love basketball."

Evan's parents say they plan to file a report with Oakland police.

A representative with the Amateur Athletic Union or AAU told KPIX 5 Monday the San Francisco Generals are not affiliated with the organization. The representative also said AAU did not host Saturday's tournament, and therefore has no jurisdiction over disciplining the players involved. The confirmation came after the San Francisco Generals posted on their now-deleted Instagram page that they were part of the AAU.

Grassroots 365 posted a statement on its Instagram account and on the organization's website, saying, "We are sickened by the senseless and deplorable actions of individual players on the court this past weekend in Oakland. We have taken swift action to address the individuals involved and will continue to diligently and comprehensively investigate the incident that took place."