Ferguson riots draw response from LeBron James, Magic Johnson

In a show of unity with the family of Michael Brown and Trayvon Martin — two recent victims of high-profile shootings in the U.S., in which the victim was unarmed and black — LeBron James shared this sketch on Instagram on Monday night.

By Tuesday morning, it had 244,000 likes on Instagram and almost 4,000 retweets on Twitter.

The background for all of this was the violent situation unfolding in Ferguson, Mo. The city burned as citizens voiced their anger over a Grand Jury decision not to indict the police offier who shot Michael Brown.

On a night that had two Monday night NFL contests and a handful of NHL and NBA games, like most of North America, many of the top names in sports were captured by the troubling situation in Ferguson.

St. Louis Blues defenceman Ian Cole added his voice to those hoping for a peaceful resolution.

Ferguson is about 20 km from St. Louis. The Blues are scheduled to host the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night. According to reports, the NHL is monitoring the situation and is considering rescheduling the game.

The Blues Twitter account went silent during Monday night's riots, a wise and safe PR move for many sporting organizations, during a time when life and death was at stake on city streets.

The Boston Red Sox may have wished they did the same. An ill-timed tweet celebrating the signing of Pablo Sandoval was clearly insensitive to the tone across the United States on Monday. 

What is it with Massachusetts-based teams and bad Twitter timing?