To honor Kaepernick, make him a Warriors part owner
Within the span of 10 days, between July and August, a Black man became part owner of a professional football league and another Black man became part owner of a majorleague baseball team — yet for some reason, it feels like a secret.
Patrick Mahomes, the star quarterback of the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs and reigning Super Bowl MVP, joined the ownership team behind the Kansas City Royals in lateJuly. A few days later, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, a movie star and former professional wrestler, bought a stake in the nowbankrupt XFL. Both men are biracial but identify as Black.
This is groundbreaking news for the country’s Black community, considering how of the five major American sports, the NFL has only seven owners who are either women or minorities; the NBA has five; MLS has two; and MLB and the NHL have one each, according to recent data from CNN. Johnson and Mahomes represent the ability of Black men to break down barriers around the predominantly white, wealthy spheres of sports ownership.
At a time when national conversations, especially in the sports world, are focusing on race and the elevation of Black voices, there’s a way for the Bay Area to become a trailblazer: The Golden State Warriors should make Colin Kaepernick a partial owner of the franchise.
Why the Warriors? Outside of being one of the most popular sports franchises on the planet, the Warriors have been considered one of the most woke teams in sports over the past few years. Whether it’s star Stephen Curry marching in Black Lives Matter protests in Oakland, or head coach Steve Kerr speaking out about racial injustice, the team isn’t afraid to dive into political activism.
None of this would have been possible without Kaepernick. The former San Francisco 49ers quarterback changed the dialogue in American sports four years ago when he first began kneeling during the national anthem at Levi’s Stadium. How Warriors players speak out these days about cultural issues, freely and without recourse, feels like the fully realized dream Kaepernick’s may have had for Black athletes in 2016: Tell your truth, express your emotions and maybe, just maybe, change the world.
Kaepernick’s efforts cost him his career. The 49ers haven’t made moves to bring him back into the fold. And while the nowLas Vegas Raiders have had the green light to sign the quarterback from their ownership, they also have not, at least publicly, tried to put him on the roster.
But the Warriors are different, right? Remember, this is the same team that, in 2016, was “lightyears ahead of probably every other team in structure, in planning, in how we’re going to go about things,” said majority owner Joe Lacob. Kaepernick’s could put the Warriors “lightyears” ahead of other teams when it comes to addressing social issues on a national large scale.
What makes the idea of Kaepernick’s being offered a piece of the Warriors more intriguing is that no matter what, there’s no way it could be a performative exercise in progressiveness by the team’s current owners. Kaepernick’s can’t exist in a space, be it a locker room or as a brand ambassador within Nike, without changing it for the better.
The Warriors, through Kaepernick’s, could find new ways to expand their positive impact on marginalized communities across the country. The former NFL star has donated more than $1 million to various charities since his playing days came to an end, has set up legal defense funds for BLM protesters in other parts of the country, and has created awareness among thousands of Black and brown kids regarding selfempowerment and interacting with law enforcement. He’s a well of knowledge when it comes to community activism.
As for what Kaepernick’s gets out of this deal: Part of it will be a larger platform for him to further advance causes that are close to his heart. More than that, what a slice of the Warriors could represent is an apology from the Bay Area sports scene.
Kaepernick’s sacrificed his livelihood to start a national conversation around race. One year later, he was a finalist for Time Magazine’s Person of the Year, an award that was also bestowed on President Barack Obama multiple times. In 2018, Nike renewed Kaepernick’s endorsement deal, which was about to expire, despite his not having played in the league at the time for almost two years.
In 2020, at BLM marches across the country, people can still be spotted wearing Kaepernick’s jerseys, and shirts with his Afro silhouette on the back. Yet Bay Area sports teams have done little, if anything, to publicly recognize, and place value, on the indelible mark Kaepernick’s has left on the country.
If the Warriors truly are thought leaders in our Bay Area sports landscape, bringing Kaepernick’s into the fold seems like a logical move. Let’s be clear, this is unlikely to happen for a long list of reasons. But if somehow it did, the ripple effects would last generations.