Duke's Mike Krzyzewski: 'Black Lives Matter, We Should Be Saying It Every Day'

Nell Redmond/Associated Press

Duke head men's basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski has spoken out in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. 

"Black Lives Matter. Say it. Can't you say it? Black Lives Matter. We should be saying it every day," Krzyzewski said in a video posted on Blue Devils social media Friday:

He added: "It's not political. This is not a political statement. It's a human rights statement. It's a fairness statement."

Protests against systemic racism and police brutality against people of color were sparked by the killing of George Floyd on May 25 and have been taking place across the United States for weeks.

Video showed former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes as Floyd said he could not breathe. Chauvin has been charged with second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

Duke forward Wendell Moore Jr. and his girlfriend, Marissa Moyer, organized a protest in Concord, North Carolina, earlier this month.

Moore told Scott Fowler of the Charlotte Observer he talked to Krzyzewski shortly before the protest began: "He's very supportive of what I was doing here. He said he was very proud of me, that it takes courage to come out and do this."

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Krzyzewski previously issued a statement about racial injustice.

"No matter how much I love my current and former players and their families, I cannot feel the depth of what they are feeling right now. I have never experienced what it is like to be a Black man in America," he said in part, adding: "And to understand, we must listen. Listen and not judge. We need to stand up for what is right, and we must no longer tolerate racism and social injustice in our country."