CJ McCollum Rejects Donald Trump’s Definition of “Locker Room Talk”

The Portland Trail Blazers’ CJ McCollum joined a list of professional athletes on social media to air concerns about controversial comments made by the Republican Candidate for President Donald Trump before and during Sunday night’s second Presidential Debate.

Trump made headlines across the globe last week after a video, recorded in 2005, showed him talking indecently about women, admitting he would push himself on them and grab their genitals. During Sunday’s debate, Trump addressed the issue by stating “this was locker room talk. I'm not proud of it”.

Following the debate, McCollum – who majored in journalism at Lehigh University – took to Twitter to reject the premise that Trump’s language was “locker room talk”

Within hours, McCollum’s comment had gone national, along with the viewpoints of his fellow athletes, including former Portland Trail Blazer Jamal Crawford, the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Dahntay Jones, the Kansas City Chiefs’ Chris Conley, former professional footballer Tom Crabtree, tennis icon Martina Navratilova, former professional wrestler CM Punk, and currently-unsigned NBA player Kendall Marshall.

His Tweet was featured in articles from the Washington Post, Time, BBC, Fox Business, CBS News, CNN and USA Today.

Comcast SportsNet Northwest caught up with Damian Lillard and Evan Turner to get comments after yesterday’s debate. When asked about the concept of “locker room talk”, Lillard said:

I know in our locker room we have conversations that’s nobody’s business, but we keep it respectful. It’s not right for somebody to put that off on us when you make a mistake, but he is who he is.

McCollum, Lillard, and the Portland Trail Blazers get back on the court Tuesday night, playing a preseason game against the Los Angeles Lakers at the Staples Center.