James, Lakers take lead on fight for equality for all
Lebron James stood in front of a Lakers backdrop in the NBA’S bubble near Orlando, Fla., after his first game of the season restart back in July, listening to a question asked thousands of miles away from Los Angeles: What had he hoped to accomplish?
The Lakers star’s answer revealed less about the evening’s exhibition and more about what he and the NBA hoped to accomplish in the next three months.
“First of all,” James began, “I want to continue to shed light on justice for Breonna Taylor and to her family and everything that’s going on with that situation.”
For the next 13 minutes, James called for Louisville police officers to be arrested in the death of Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency medical technician killed when officers entered her home on a “no-knock” warrant as she slept. He discussed Black Lives Matter and the change he wanted to see in America. Basketball barely was broached.
Just as his answers reflected the fraught backdrop – the combination of a pandemic and a national reckoning on racism – in the bubble, James also foreshadowed the way players and coaches would spend the coming months reframing basketball conversations. Their broader discussions of social justice on topics including voter suppression, police brutality and systemic racism would become sharply focused on those problems.
“Two years ago, you think you would have been interviewing NBA people about racism and racial equality and to be able to say it openly and confidently and to put ‘Black Lives Matter’ on the court?” Atlanta Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce said. “Those things were impossible in any sport two years ago because of the difficulty to confront racism and racial equality. The necessary side of having these conversations has at least gotten us to this point.
“First and foremost we have to address it. Second, we have to make sure that people understand and are affected and are impacted and bothered by it. Now that we have this huge amount of support, what can we do?”
Dr. Harry Edwards, the sports sociologist who has advised athletes on activism for six decades, said the advocacy in the bubble fit into what he called the “fifth wave” of athletes’ activism, one defined by their keen understanding of their power, and how to wield it.
Edwards was not surprised to learn that the Milwaukee Bucks, after sitting out an August playoff game as a protest following the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wis., made a public statement only after reaching Wisconsin’s attorney general and lieutenant governor by phone, asking how they could help. Their strike led to a league-wide walkout that paused games for three days and ended with the NBA and its owners committing to turn their arenas into voting centers, and the creation of a social justice coalition.
One of the strongest stances taken this summer came in the WNBA, where players wore T-shirts urging Georgians to vote out incumbent Sen. Kelly Loeffler, a co-owner of the Atlanta Dream who said she opposes the Black
Lives Matter movement.
“Even though none of these players, none of these leagues, are in the social justice business, this stuff has come over the stadium wall, through the pavilion, through the locker room, and they must be intelligently managed because they can be neither eliminated nor avoided,” Edwards said. “And this will not be the last time.”
The NBA collectively spent its summer preparing its response for the next time, with teams and players intertwining themselves with various social-justice efforts.
In June, James helped launch the nonprofit
“More Than A Vote” to fight voter suppression in states including Georgia, Texas, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Twentyone arenas, including Staples Center and the Forum, will serve as voting centers. In August, the NBA said owners could collectively contribute
$30 million annually for a decade to fund its newly created NBA Foundation with a mission “to drive economic empowerment for Black communities through employment and career-advancement.” Rep. Karen Bass, the leader of the Congressional Black Caucus, spoke virtually with the Clippers in September about the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act and how they can raise awareness about police-reform legislation. Chris Paul, president of the players’ union, said this month that more than 90% of NBA players had registered to vote.
“We need to get people out to vote. I urge you to,” Lakers guard Danny Green said, days before his team’s championship. “Can’t emphasize it enough. That’s what’s more important.”