Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Bam in a bubble
Adebayo hopes outside issues can be addressed among peers while at Disney
Bam Adebayo says he is in no position to dictate priorities to his fellow NBA players when it comes to either reporting to Disney World for the league’s restart or remaining in their communities to push for social justice.
“I’m the dude that’s on the fence,” the Miami Heat center said. “I understand that we want to be in the middle of protests with our bodies and we want people to know that we’re there supporting Black Lives Matter, which I’m 100 percent about. And I’m 100 percent about going to the bubble and doing it on national television where everybody sees it.”
For many in the league, that is the dilemma at the moment, at a time when significant strides appear to be being made in terms of racial reform and awareness.
For the first-time All-Star, it is a pulpit he believes can remain in place, even while sequestered in NBA quarantine for weeks on end for protection against the coronavirus pandemic.
“So it’s really a touchy situation. It’s pick or choose,” Adebayo, 22, said, with NBA players given until Wednesday by the league to decide if they will
participate in the resumption of play at the Wide World of Sports complex just outside of Orlando.
“My personal opinion? I feel like whatever is calling upon you to do, I feel like you should do that. That’s just my opinion. I feel like if a dude wants to get his point across and wants to protest, I feel like he has the right to do that. And I feel like it’s the other dudes’ rights where they can go into the bubble and speak how they feel on national television after a big game or a big win.”
Adebayo said he believes voices can resonate from within the playing setting, while also being heard beyond.
“We’re going to have media, regardless,” he said, with games to be broadcast locally and nationally, and with the NBA already putting protocols in place for both in-person and remote media coverage. “I’m stuck in the middle, so I can’t really answer that. But I get both of the parties.”
The NBA stressed in a memo that social activism and the resumption of play in isolation are not mutually exclusive.
“A central goal of our season restart,” the league said, “will be to utilize the NBA’s platform to bring attention and sustained action to issues of social injustice, including combating systemic racism, expanding educational and economic opportunities across the Black community, enacting meaningful police and criminal justice reform and promoting greater civic engagement.”
With teams not scheduled to enter the bubble type of setting until the second week of July, the league has an allowance for community activism in the interim.
“These rules,” the league said of its guidelines, “do not prohibit players and essential staff from engaging in protests; teams should invite such individuals who participate in protests to consult with a team physician regarding best practices to avoid contracting COVID-19 while doing so.”
Several Heat players have already participated in such events, including Udonis Haslem and Tyler Herro.
But once teams report to Disney, not only will there be strict enforcement of social distancing, in some cases up to 12 feet, but no fans in attendance.
“The biggest thing we’re going to have to get over is playing with no fans,” Adebayo said. “I think that’s the biggest thing. But I feel like once we actually did the playing [of] games, I think we’ll all start to forget about we don’t have fans. So it’ll feel like an AAU tournament.”
But, all while making sure a main thing remains a main thing, Adebayo closed his comments with, “Everybody remember, Black Lives Matter.”