Don’t expect NBA players to protest
Like James, stars utilize platforms off the court to spread their message
When LeBron James voiced his opinion on the topic of anthem kneeling last month, saying “My voice and what I do in my community is more powerful than getting on a knee,” he was speaking for the NBA masses.
In a league nearly three-fourths African American, this has been a popular stance. And while some players might kneel when the regular season starts Tuesday — either to raise continued awareness for racial injustice or to oppose the actions of President Trump — it’s unlikely we’ll see a widespread movement that’s anywhere near the level of what’s happened in the NFL. A significant part of the reasoning, as James hinted, has everything to do with the fact that players are maximizing the power of their platforms off the court during this divisive time.
“Everybody has the liberty of (kneeling), and they should (have that freedom),” Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry told USA TODAY Sports on Sunday in Oakland, where he launched a newly refurbished gym and courts for youths and reiterated he has no plans to kneel. “I think a lot has been said about how the NBA guys — and definitely the case in the NFL, too — are actually doing stuff on the back end and using their platforms and their connections and their networks and money to (make a difference).
“It feels good to have that kind of impact, to help actually create change in the ways that you can. … The attention needs to be on that and how that’s impacting the community as opposed to 130 guys kneeling in the NFL. That’s great, but this is the stuff that matters and this is the stuff that can actually move the needle when it comes to impacting the next generation.”
The NBA, long seen as the most progressive sports league, has been navigating tricky waters.
When Commissioner Adam Silver chose during a board of governor’s news conference Sept. 28 to highlight a league rule that says players must stand for the anthem, and when deputy commissioner Mark Tatum followed with a memo to teams reminding them of the rule, it sent a surprising message that seemed to run counter to the league’s longstanding ethos. This is the league that ousted Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling for his racist rant and moved the 2017 All-Star Game out of Charlotte because of anti-LGBT laws.
But while there was grumbling from players behind the scenes about the curious way in which the anthem rule reminders came from the league office, there was no public backlash.
It served as the latest reminder that, from Silver to National Basketball Players Association head Michele Roberts on down, the year-round partnering on projects that are meaningful to players goes a long way toward securing the league’s integrity on this front. And as the country has grown more divided, the players’ efforts to fight back in the community have soared to a new level.
According to the NBA, which often publicizes individual community events but doesn’t typically share comprehensive data, there have been approximately
175 events, programs and/or initiatives involving players since July 2016. During that time, as part of the In Real Life campaign with MENTOR, a nationwide program, and former president Barack Obama’s My Brother’s Keeper program, they surged past the five-year goal to recruit 25,000 volunteers as mentors.
The timeline coincides with the
2016 ESPYs, when James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade and Chris Paul stood on stage wearing black suits and discussed the need for social action. Their shared message was that high-profile athletes could no longer afford to stay quiet on these important issues.
Then came the Anthony-driven community conversation in Los Angeles that month, when Team USA’s men and women interacted with 50 kids and 20 LAPD officers who took part in the Building Bridges through Basketball program. The scene was repeated in New Orleans, Chicago and Detroit, with more cities to come. With locals taking part in
21⁄ 2- hour sessions for 10 weeks in all and the work continuing long after the players are gone, the curriculum includes on-court activities and a playbook that focused on real-life lessons.
Participants polled after the New Orleans seminar after AllStar weekend — in which 89% of students said they felt trusted and appreciated by police after the event, 86% expressed concern for racial equality and 100% said they wanted to attend the program again — raised hopes the technique can be effective long term. Along the way, with people such as Kathy Behrens (the NBA’s president of social responsibility and player programs) and Sherrie Deans (executive director of the NBPA Foundation) helping players determine where they might make the most impact, the desire to give back in ways that go beyond an anthem kneeling grew even more than before.
“I hope that we continue to talk about police brutality, systematic oppression, racism, that we continue to have these conversations,” Dallas Mavericks forward Harrison Barnes told USA TODAY Sports. “When you look at why (Colin) Kaepernick took the knee (last year), it was to bring attention to a topic, to have that conversation. Now whether or not we’ve truly had that conversation, or if it’s been more about the anthem or the protests or now Trump jumping on that bandwagon, it’s still up in the air.
“But … regardless of whether people take a knee in the NBA or not, more players will continue to use their voice to continue to do projects and continue to give back to communities, continue to help bring reconciliation and healing to this problem that we have. I think that’s the most important thing that can happen.”