Hall of Famer Paul Pierce gave his opinion on the matter involving Miami Dolphins’ wide receiver Tyreek Hill.

Pierce used his platform on FS1’s Speak Live to address the situation.

Hill was pulled over on Sunday before the season-opening game against the Jacksonville Jaguars in front of Hard Rock Stadium. One of the officers, as the released body cam footage showed, pulled Hill out of his vehicle by his head and shoulder. Hill was then placed on the ground, face down, with handcuffs on.

“Man, when I first saw that I’m trying to think, when I saw that I was thinking what could you have possibly done to be placed in handcuffs and be placed face down on the ground,” Pierce said. “That’s usually reserved for someone committing a real crime. I was shocked just to see that.”

Pierce said race is still an obvious issue.

“That just shows you the problems that we still have in America,” Pierce said. “As a black man in America, even if you are poor, middle class or Tyreek Hill, there are still issues between black people and cops.”

Officer Danny Torres, a 27-year veteran of the Miami-Dade Police Department, was placed on administrative leave. Pierce said it equated to showing Torres was wrong.

“When I saw today that one officer was placed on administrative leave, that told me they were in the wrong right there,” Pierce said.

Pierce said the police went too far even if a traffic infraction occurred.

“So, you know who Tyreek is, he’s a block from the stadium, maybe yeah, he got pulled over for a traffic violation, maybe he did say something the police didn’t want to hear. But why is he handcuffed and face down on the ground? I just think that’s still disturbing to this day to see things like this.”

Scott Salomon is a contributor to Back In the Day Hoops On SI. He can be reached at sas@southfloridamedianetwork.com.

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