The NBA has empowered its players to speak out on social and racial issues. But will the league allow its players to kneel during the national anthem to protest police brutality and racial inequality?
“The national anthem is just one of the tactics. It’s not the only tactic the NBA could use,” said Herb Ruffin, an associate professor of African American Studies at Syracuse University. “That’s the problem with the NFL. The NFL, it seems like the only tactic they have is the kneel down. The NBA can go in all kinds of different directions.”► James founded “More Than a Vote,” an organization created to fight voter suppression in the Black community.
► A handful of NBA players have participated in peaceful protests, including with Minnesota , Atlanta , Boston , Philadelphia , Indiana , the Los Angeles Lakers , Houston and New York . Some former NBA players have participated too, including Stephen Jackson, Metta World Peace, Caron Butler and Royce White.
► Lakers luminary Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Raptors president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri have penned op-eds. During ESPN’s “Return to Sports” panel on Monday, Silver suggested teams might bring guest speakers to discuss police reform once the season resumes July 30 in a quarantine site near Orlando, Florida.
“If the NBA is going to say it fully celebrates protests and this movement, it has to embrace it in all of its forms,” Leonard said. “The NBA’s response in the past has been to facilitate discussion between the police and black youth as if the issues are about misunderstanding as opposed to power, violence and systemic issues. So the NBA is going to need to recognize Colin Kaepernick and others in the NFL were protesting police violence, and not the flag or the military.
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