US basketball star Carmelo Anthony called for the United States to come together on Monday, ending the gun violence which recently saw three police officers killed.

Anthony is preparing for Olympic gold but is taking time out of his training in a bid to unite his country, using last week’s ESPY Awards evening as one platform and the build-up to the Games in Brazil as another.

“It’s unfortunate, it’s sad,” said Anthony. “You can’t really put into words what’s going on throughout the whole country, throughout the whole world. For us as a country, we have to stand united. We have to come together.”