NBA Commissioner Adam Silver\u00a0tried to head off a political awakening, and instead stoked its flames.\u00a0 \u201cNow we\u2019re judging people by their religion\u2014trying to keep Muslims out. We\u2019re getting back to the days of putting the Japanese in relocation camps, of Hitler registering the Jews. That\u2019s where we\u2019re heading.<\/b>
\u201cNow we\u2019re judging people by their religion\u2014trying to keep Muslims out. We\u2019re getting back to the days of putting the Japanese in relocation camps, of Hitler registering the Jews. That\u2019s where we\u2019re heading.\u201d
\u2014 Detroit Piston Head Coach Stan Van Gundy
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\u201cI agree with that description [that Trump is an \u2018real asset\u2019 to the United States] if you remove the \u2018et\u2019 from asset.\u201d
\u2014 Steph Curry, two-time MVP
Throughout the NBA, respected coaches and the most decorated players\u2014from Gregg Popovich and Steve Kerr to LeBron James and Steph Curry\u2014are speaking out against the new president. This is happening throughout much of the sports world\u2014 even in NASCAR \u2014but most notably in the NBA. Over the All-Star weekend in New Orleans, the question was raised: Why is this happening in the NBA\u2014and why now?\t
I have asked coaches, players, and beat writers this very question. The consensus is that the NBA revolt against the Trump administration is the result of a perfect storm; the influence of the Black Lives Matter movement, greater comfort with social media, and the multicultural and global nature of the game have all inspired this majority-black sports league to stand up to the white nationalism of Muslim bans and border walls.\t
Many journalists and players also believe that the particular outspokenness of\u00a0 LeBron James and Gregg Popovich has provided political cover for anyone wants to follow suit. Others point out that being anti-Trump, is good for business. Nike is commodifying dissent with a beautifully filmed\u2014if crassly opportunistic\u2014commercial starring LeBron himself. (Hopefully this ad will age better than the company\u2019s 1980s Rebel with a Cause campa ign , starring John McEnroe.)\t
All of these theories have merit, but they don\u2019t explain everything. The NBA was largely silent during the Bush years, except for the continual antiwar voice of 10-year veteran Etan Thomas and a T-shirt worn by Steve Nash. Players like Craig Hodges and Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf were driven from the league in the 1990s in part for their political outspokenness. Yet now Hodges is interviewed about his \u201ccourage\u201d on Dr. King\u2019s birthday for Inside the NBA and Rauf is the subject of a beautiful Outside the Lines special on ESPN , celebrating his \u201crevival.\u201d
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Something else is going on, and it\u2019s an unintended consequence of Commissioner Adam Silver\u2019s efforts to keep the anthem protests that sprang up in the NFL from spreading to the NBA.\t
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Before the season began, the league sponsored public-service announcements about \u201c togetherness \u201d featuring star players known for being vocal about police brutality: Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, and Dwyane Wade, along with white player Kyle Korver. Silver and NBPA President Michelle Roberts also sent each team a memo affirming the rights of players to speak out off the court , and asking NBA players to contact the league or the union if they are looking for ways to make \u201cpositive change.\u201d The approach could not have been more different from the hyper-paternalism of Silver\u2019s predecessor, \u201cMr. Dress Code\u201d David Stern. Silver\u2019s message was that players could be as woke as they want to be\u2026as long as it would be kept off the court, and as long as it tilted toward service, not resistance.\t
It has to be noted that this corporate strategy worked only because Adam Silver by all accounts sincerely cares about there being vocal, civic-minded athletes in a way that Stern instinctively opposed. The very reason the All-Star game was in New Orleans was, of course, because it was pulled from Charlotte, North Carolina, over the state\u2019s discriminatory legislation against LGBTQ people. Players took the cue from Silver, holding hands during the anthem to symbolize \u201cunity,\u201d and then saw footage of those very gestures used in the NBA\u2019s very own PSAs.\t
But then a not-so-funny thing happened on the way to kumbaya. Donald Trump was elected president, and rebellion has been normalized. Americans have been protesting since the inauguration, and a heterogeneous \u201cresistance\u201d against the grifter in the White House has taken hold. With his every tweet, Trump sends more people\u2014even those who never thought about politics\u2014into the streets.\t
Players and coaches are part of this world, too. Many are just as shocked and enraged as the rest of us who believe this presidency is off the rails. They have chosen to use their platform and take advantage of the oxygen that Silver offered in return for not going \u201cfull Kaepernick\u201d during the anthem. They are standing up and not stopping, even if it has gone beyond what Adam Silver could ever control. These are what are called \u201cunintended consequences.\u201d\t
Adam Silver wanted a \u201cwoke league.\u201d Well, he got it and, in the short term, no one is going back to sleep.\t
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Dave Zirin Twitter Dave Zirin is the sports editor of\u00a0 The Nation .
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Greg Gaut says:
February 20, 2017 at 2:35 pm\t
Good article, but I think you might also mention as another factor that the NBA players are perhaps taking cues from their sisters in the WBNA, who maybe were a bit ahead of them in standing up.
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David Quigley says:
February 20, 2017 at 12:52 pm\t
America is hypnotized by professional sports. During most of its history this habit has kept American men asleep at the wheel while the corrupt billionaires have derailed our news media and our democracy. And the corporate owners have kept the lid in political involvement among the modern day gladiators who keep the citizens pacified and unconscious just like in the circus of Ancient Rome. I am truly inspired by the current leadership in the NBA. It’s time that the American coliseum help awaken Americans instead of putting them to sleep!!
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