American sorry for accusing basketball players of stealing

American Airlines has apologized to two black minor league basketball players who were kicked off a plane in Dallas on Christmas Eve after a flight attendant accused them of stealing blankets.

Marquis Teague and Trahson Burrell – who both play for the NBA G League’s Memphis Hustle – boarded Flight 3756, operated by Envoy Air, at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport bound for Sioux Falls, South Dakota, according to American Airlines spokesman Joshua Freed.

As the teammates boarded, two first-class passengers gave Teague and Burrell their blankets as they headed to their seats in coach.

However, a black flight attendant accused them of theft and forced them off the plane. Burrell allegedly shared some threatening words before deboarding, according to The Undefeated. 

Freed says an airline manager apologized to the players and that they later flew first class to Sioux Falls along with an assistant coach. However, according to The Undefeated, the three missed the team’s holiday dinner that night.  

Marquis Teague (left) and Memphis Hustle teammate Trahson Burrell (right) were accused of stealing blankets from first class before being asked to deboard. An American Airlines spokesman said both players received apologies and were flown first class to their destination

American Airlines spokesman: ‘We apologize for what occurred on this flight. We take pride in bringing people together, and we know that on this flight we let some of our customers down. Our team at American, along with Envoy Air, is reviewing what happened and will be reaching out to [the two players and the assistant coach]

‘We apologize for what occurred on this flight,’ Freed told The Undefeated. ‘We take pride in bringing people together, and we know that on this flight we let some of our customers down. Our team at American, along with Envoy Air, is reviewing what happened and will be reaching out to [the two players and the assistant coach].’

Chief executive Doug Parker told employees last month that American Airlines will implement implicit-bias training.

Both Hustle head coach Glynn Cyprien and assistant coach Darnell Lazare took to Twitter to share their frustration after the incident. 

‘American Airlines Needs Sensitivity Training to Attendants on flights dealing with Humans & Blankets!,’ wrote Cyprien. 

Lazare: ‘It’s 2017 and a Flight attendant for @AmericanAir sees 2 young black athletes with blankets from first class, his 1st comment is “did you steal them” how about you teach people to get the facts first before jumping to conclusions’ 

Memphis Hustle head coach Glynn Cyprien reacted to the incident on Twitter

Memphis Hustle assistant coach Darnell Lazare suggested American Airlines’s decision to remove Teague and Burrell from the flight was racially motivated 

Burrell and Teague both played in Memphis’s Christmas Day game in Sioux Falls, scoring 14 and 11 points, respectively, while Burrell added 11 rebounds, seven assists and five steals in a 131-115 win Over the Skyforce. 

The younger brother of Minnesota Timberwolves point guard Jeff Teague, Marquis was a first-round pick of the Chicago Bulls in 2012 before being traded to the Brookyn Nets in 2014. 

The University of Kentucky product has since bounced around the NBA’s development league, now known as the G-League, as well as the Israeli league. 

After two seasons at Memphis State, Burrell is now in his second NBA G League season.