NBA News: LeBron James And Kyrie Irving Explain 'I Can't Breathe' T-Shirt, Adam Silver Calls Their Attention For Breaching 'Attire Rules'

Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James and Kyrie Irving were passionate about joining the movement that Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose started - wearing a black t-shirt that bore the phrase "I can't breathe."

The four-time MVP clarified that it wasn't some sort of protest as many perceive it to be, but more of an expression of sympathy to the bereaved family of Eric Garner, who uttered the aforesaid phrase before he was choked to death by a police officer.

"It's just for us to make a [statement] to understand what we're going through as a society," said King James.

"I've been quoted over and over about what's going on as far as it's more of a notion to the family, more than anything."

"Obviously, as a society we have to do better. We have to be better for one another. It doesn't matter what race you are. It's more of a shout out to the family more than anything, because they're the ones that should be getting all the energy and effort."

"I think everybody else gets caught up in everything else besides who's really feeling it, and that's the family. That's what it's about."

Speaking after the road game against the Brooklyn Nets, Irving essentially gave the same reason as James'.

"I think it's really important that we show our respect to the families. More importantly we're in the city where tragedy happened and it's really important to us that we stand up for a cause, especially this one. It hits close to home and means a lot to me," said the Duke University product.

Meanwhile, NBA commissioner Adam Silver was not too pleased with the move, calling on the players to abide by "attire rules."

"I respect Derrick Rose and all of our players for voicing their personal views on important issues but my preference would be for players to abide by our on-court attire rules," said Silver.

It remains to be seen how the players will respond to Silver's statement and how the commissioner would react in case of non-compliance.

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