--- title: Bulls’ Derrick Rose Wears ‘I Can’t Breathe’ Shirt During Warmups description: In support of Eric Garner, a Staten Island man killed by a police chokehold in July canonical: https://time.com/3622365/derrick-rose-cant-breathe-eric-garner-shirt-warmups-chicago-bulls/ author: Sports Illustrated article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-12-07T16:43:32.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:06:47.262Z article:section: Sports og:title: Bulls’ Derrick Rose Wears ‘I Can’t Breathe’ Shirt During Warmups og:description: In support of Eric Garner, a Staten Island man killed by a police chokehold in July og:url: https://time.com/3622365/derrick-rose-cant-breathe-eric-garner-shirt-warmups-chicago-bulls/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt810ec34755a6cc4c/69876d3fcd6848a627098763/derrick-rose-i-cant-breathe.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose wears a shirt reading "I Can't Breath" while warming up for a game against the Golden State Warriors on Dec. 6, 2014 at the United Center in Chicago. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Bulls’ Derrick Rose Wears ‘I Can’t Breathe’ Shirt During Warmups twitter:description: In support of Eric Garner, a Staten Island man killed by a police chokehold in July twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt810ec34755a6cc4c/69876d3fcd6848a627098763/derrick-rose-i-cant-breathe.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Bulls' Derrick Rose Wears 'I Can't Breathe' Shirt During Warmups by [Sports Illustrated / Mike Fiammetta](https://time.com/author/sports-illustrated/) ## Sports Illustrated / Mike Fiammetta Dec 7, 2014 4:43 PM UTC  Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose wears a shirt reading "I Can't Breath" while warming up for a game against the Golden State Warriors on Dec. 6, 2014 at the United Center in Chicago. Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose wears a shirt reading "I Can't Breath" while warming up for a game against the Golden State Warriors on Dec. 6, 2014 at the United Center in Chicago.Chris Sweda—Chicago Tribune/Landov by [Sports Illustrated / Mike Fiammetta](https://time.com/author/sports-illustrated/) ## Sports Illustrated / Mike Fiammetta Dec 7, 2014 4:43 PM UTC Chicago [Bulls](http://www.si.com/nba/team/chicago-bulls) guard [Derrick Rose](http://www.si.com/nba/player/derrick-rose) sported an “I Can’t Breathe” shirt in pregame warmups before [Saturday’s game against the Golden State Warriors](http://www.si.com/game/6533266). The shirt was in support of Eric Garner, a Staten Island man who died after being placed in a chokehold by police in July. Protests across the country have collected steam after a grand jury on Wednesday declined to indict NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo in the death of Garner. Pantaleo placed Garner in the chokehold while arresting him for allegedly selling untaxed cigarettes. “I can’t breathe” were reportedly among Garner’s last words before his death, which was ruled a homicide by the medical examiner’s office. Last week, a [group of St. Louis Rams players](http://www.si.com/nfl/2014/11/30/st-louis-rams-ferguson-protests) made the “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” gesture used by protestors in Ferguson, Mo., and across the country in the wake of the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown. St. Louis prosecutor Robert McCulloch announced last week that a grand jury declined to indict Darren Wilson, the Ferguson police officer who fatally shot Brown. [_This article originally appeared on SI.com_](http://www.si.com/nba/2014/12/06/derrick-rose-i-cant-breathe-shirt) ### See Athletes Who Have Taken a Stand on Political Issues  African-American track team members Tommie Smith (C) and John Carlos (R) raised gloved Black Power fists as during the medal ceremony of the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. Both Smith and Carlos were suspended from the U.S. team, and both received death threats. "We knew that what we were going to do was far greater than any athletic feat," Carlos reportedly said at the time. Both are now in the Hall of Fame. John Dominis—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  In this image posted to Miami Heat basketball player LeBron James' Twitter account in 2012, Miami Heat players wear team hoodies to protest the killing of unarmed black teen Trayvon Martin by neighborhood watch member George Zimmerman. (LeBron James via Twitter-- AP Photo) AP  Sweden's Moa Hjelmer sports rainbow nails at the 2013 World Athletics Championships in Moscow, Russia, to protest Russia's laws prohibiting gay "propaganda." (Martin Meissner-- AP) Martin Meissner—AP  Egyptian soccer player Ahmed Abdul Zaher shows a four-finger sign, widely known as a gesture of support for ousted Islamsist President Mohammed Morsi, after scoring a goal on November 10, 2013\. He was suspended from the team and from the FIFA Club World Cup in Morocco after flashing the sign of support, and his team looked into trading him. (Desouki--AFP/Getty Images) Khaled Desouki—AFP/Getty Images  In 2010, the Phoenix Suns wore jerseys emblazoned with "Los Suns" on Cinco de Mayo, in response to an anti-immigration law recently passed in Arizona. (Christian Petersen--Getty Images) Christian Petersen—Getty Images  Los Angeles Clippers players wore their warmup jerseys inside out to protest racist remarks by team owner Donald Sterling on April 27, 2014, in Oakland, Calif. (Marcio Jose Sanchez--AP Photo) Marcio Jose Sanchez—AP  St. Louis Rams wide receiver Tavon Austin raised his arms in the "hands up, don't shoot" gesture to show support for Michael Brown, before a game against the Oakland Raiders at the Edward Jones Dome. (Jeff Curry--USA TODAY Sports) Jeff Curry—USA Today Sports/Reuters  Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James warms up before an NBA basketball game against the Brooklyn Nets at the Barclays Center on Dec. 8, 2014, in New York. Kathy Willens—AP ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3622365/derrick-rose-cant-breathe-eric-garner-shirt-warmups-chicago-bulls/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3622365/derrick-rose-cant-breathe-eric-garner-shirt-warmups-chicago-bulls/"},"headline":"Bulls' Derrick Rose Wears 'I Can't Breathe' Shirt During Warmups","datePublished":"2014-12-07T16:43:32.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:06:47.262Z","description":"In support of Eric Garner, a Staten Island man killed by a police chokehold in July","url":"https://time.com/3622365/derrick-rose-cant-breathe-eric-garner-shirt-warmups-chicago-bulls/","keywords":["NBA","protest","Indictment","NYPD","Eric Garner"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt810ec34755a6cc4c/69876d3fcd6848a627098763/derrick-rose-i-cant-breathe.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sports Illustrated / Mike Fiammetta"}],"articleSection":"Sports","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt810ec34755a6cc4c/69876d3fcd6848a627098763/derrick-rose-i-cant-breathe.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose wears a shirt reading \"I Can't Breath\" while warming up for a game against the Golden State Warriors on Dec. 6, 2014 at the United Center in Chicago.","caption":"Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose wears a shirt reading \"I Can't Breath\" while warming up for a game against the Golden State Warriors on Dec. 6, 2014 at the United Center in Chicago.","creditText":"Chris Sweda—Chicago Tribune/Landov","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/sports/","name":"Sports"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/nba/","name":"NBA"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3622365/derrick-rose-cant-breathe-eric-garner-shirt-warmups-chicago-bulls/","name":"Bulls' Derrick Rose Wears 'I Can't Breathe' Shirt During Warmups"}}]}] ```