Shooting at LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado hit Bullock hard

Saturday night’s tragic shooting at a Colorado Springs, Colo., LGBTQ nightclub that killed five people and wounded 17 others hit very close to home to Dallas Mavericks forward Reggie Bullock.

On July 16, 2014, Bullock’s transgender sister – Mia Henderson – was murdered in Baltimore. Because of that, Bullock is a strong supporter of LGBTQ rights and knows what happened in Colorado Springs has no place in this world.

“With what I do in the community, hearing stuff like that it definitely touched my heart knowing that I actually have a couple of friends of mine – female – who are a part of the LGBTQ community,” Bullock told Mavs.com after Monday’s practice. “She actually sent me the article, and she was saying there’s no place safe to even party now.

“Hearing her thoughts on it and seeing how she was just heart-broken with it, it just makes me know that the work that I’m doing in the community, I’ve just got to continue doing it.”

Bullock is so passionate about defending the rights of the LGBTQ community that he has taken part in the New York City Pride March, attended the GLAAD Media Awards, and is active in the charity NBA Voices for LGBTQ Youth and Allies.

“I did (the New York City Pride March) this past season and I did it two other seasons ago,” Bullock said. “It was pretty dope being able to see all the people and seeing the different differences and be around good people who just keep love in their heart.”

A long gunman with an assault-style rifle has been charged in the massacre at Club Q – a long-time safe haven for the LGBTQ community in Colorado Springs. Bullock viewed the whole incident as totally senseless.

“There’s a lot of people out there that got a lot of wrong things on their mind that they want to hurt the (LGBTQ) community, and I just have to continue to keep doing my job and stand up for the community and try to bring awareness and try to bring safety,” Bullock said. “Prayers out to all the families.”

Saturday’s mass shooting occurred on the eve of Transgender Day Of Remembrance, which is observed in honor of the lives of trans people lost to hatred and violence.

“I didn’t do much for it yesterday because we had a game (against the Denver Nuggets),” Bullock said. “But I’ll continue to keep doing things.

“I think in January we’ve got some people coming to the game. I’m still working with different organizations and doing whatever I can to be an advocate for the LGBTQ community.”

Bullock has his sister’s face tattooed on his body. In addition, he had another sister – Keiosha Moore – who also was murdered in Baltimore on Oct. 29, 2019.

As he was contemplating what transpired in Colorado Springs, Bullock has a message for those who spew hatred and engage in violence towards the LGBTQ community.

“The message that I have to them is stop the foolishness,” Bullock said. “Try to become aware of the different people that’s in the world, keep pure love in your heart and just try to just bring purity and love throughout the whole world.”

Briefly: The Mavs (9-7) open a rugged three-game trip Wednesday in Boston. It continues with a brutal back-to-back – Saturday in Toronto and Sunday in Milwaukee – before the Mavs return home to entertain the defending world champion Golden State Warriors on Nov. 29. Boston (13-4) currently has the best record in the NBA and Milwaukee (11-4) has the league’s second-best record, while the Mavs defeated Toronto in Dallas, 111-110, on Nov. 4. . . Mavs coach Jason Kidd said guard Spencer Dinwiddie, who left Sunday’s contest against Denver with 1:27 remaining in the game while clutching his left shoulder “just watched” Monday’s practice session. “He did some things, but he pretty much just watched,” Kidd said. “But he feels good.” Asked if Dinwiddie will be ready to play against Boston, Kidd said: “We’ll see how he feels tomorrow, but I’m hoping that he’s ready to go on Wednesday.” Dinwiddie said his left shoulder “popped out” in the game against the Nuggets. . .Kidd said center Maxi Kleber “did some things today” and “he’s going in the right direction.” Kidd also said he thinks Kleber, who has a low back contusion which forced him to miss the past three games, will make the trip to Boston. But he isn’t sure whether the six-year veteran will play against the Celtics. “He did some things today and we’ll see how he feels,” Kidd said. “Hopefully he’ll do a couple of things before we fly to Boston tomorrow.”. .On the Mavs losing, 98-97, Sunday to a Denver team that was without starters Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, Bullock said: “Our mood is down knowing it’s a game that we should have had. But at the end of the day we came back in and got some work in (Monday), watched some film and we’re trying to get better and get prepared for Boston.”. .On backup center Christian Wood wanting more playing time, Kidd said: “A lot of times players in the moment want more. That’s fair. He would like to play more. Every game is different. Davis (Bertans) and (Josh) Green helped us and put us in position to win (Sunday against Denver). It’s unfortunate we didn’t win. Someone has to sacrifice. You look at C-Wood, you look at Timmy (Hardaway Jr.) — someone has to give up minutes, and those were the two guys last night because those other two put us in a position to win that game.” Wood is averaging 16.6 ppg and 7.5 rpg in 24.6 mpg. “You always want players to want minutes,” Kidd said. “You want guys that want to play, and C-Wood is a guy that’s going to play and we know he wants to play and hopefully we can get him minutes going forward. We’ve got a lot of bigs, and the beauty of this, too, is Maxi’s out. When Maxi comes back someone had to be unselfish, and that’s what good teams can do. It’s not about minutes or scoring. It’s about winning. So for C-Wood, his minutes will go up. This is just the start of the journey. We’re 16 games into this. I see his minutes going up, but we do have a roster of bigs.”

Twitter: @DwainPrice