Why the NBA can make a real difference
Players possess a level of control and influence past athlete activists couldn’t dare to imagine
WASHINGTON — In the long tradition of black athlete activism, this is a most peculiar moment. No tidy comparison exists to contextualize exactly what NBA players are weighing as they assess the appropriateness, in this tangled climate, of offering entertainment. There is, however, one theme that pulsates through sports history.
It is never a distraction from social justice for an athlete to be excellent, conscious and engaged.
Why play? With duelling potentially century-defining events — the novel coronavirus pandemic and the Black Lives Matter equality effort — the quandary could not be more intricate. Not even US$1 billion in revenue can justify the health risk. But when it comes to the worth of leveraging America’s sports obsession to further a cardinal cause, it would be irresponsible for these aware and gifted athletes not to bring their superpowers to the fight.
No basketball, Dwight Howard said initially, until we get things resolved. Things such as police brutality and systemic racism? Resolved?
Well, rest in peace, basketball.
Later, Howard wisely clarified his stance. His youth and passion exemplify some of the most impressive aspects of this protest. But perspective about the stamina required to make a difference must be emphasized, too.
African Americans have sought sustainable progress in these areas for our entire existence in this country, yet here we are, burning down hatred in what was once arrogantly dubbed a post-racial era, still having to justify the perceived audacity of the basic claim that we matter. Howard talked of resolution. Others keep using the phrase “eradicate racism” as if it just requires a scientist and a little more emphasis.
For more than 400 years, we have been stuck on this matter.
It is a wonderful and unselfish sentiment that some NBA players, with so much money at stake, are worried their return to action will be a distraction. It is also a rather facile concern, a frustratingly binary way to think. There are more options than play and distract or don’t play and help. Players can do both and so much more. With NBA commissioner Adam Silver as a proven ally and the league desperate to salvage revenue, the players possess a level of control that past athlete activists couldn’t dare to imagine.
This is a different kind of fight because the support seems heftier and more diverse. Black skepticism is only natural. How much of this indicates hearts are changing? How much of it is white guilt, a selfish emotion? How much of it is the pandemic putting us in isolation and stripping our lives of diversion?
Most important of all, how much of it can last?
This is where sports can be useful as a symbol and an inspiration. The notion of the NBA’s return being a momentum-killing distraction creates an assumption that the nation will be in the same place in six weeks as it is now, with daily protests, consistent dialogue and unrelenting pressure to tear down every tangible sign of racism that supporters of this budding movement can see. But a mass audience, no matter how determined, has seldom displayed such endurance.
There will be a plateau. There will be waves to this fight. Opposition will grow stronger. And motivation is always essential to create new energy for the pursuit.
James Baldwin, the great writer and intellectual, once provided his own lyrical twist to a concept that many philosophers have expressed. “People cannot bear too much reality,” he said. “They need fantasy, in order to survive.”
People cannot bear too much reality. They need fantasy, in order to survive.”
James Baldwin, writer and thinker