By resuming the NBA playoffs, players have not given up their leverage to demand change. They have won more.
The playoffs came to a shocking halt on Wednesday over the shooting of another black person, this time a man named Jacob Blake, who took seven bullets in the back from a white police officer in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Four years after the day after then-San Francisco 49er quarterback Colin Kaepernick first protested police brutality, the Milwaukee Bucks refused to play Game 5 of their round-robin game against the Orlando Magic. The sit-down spread quickly to Wednesday’s other two NBA games, was picked up by tennis champion Naomi Osaka, and spread to other sports leagues.
The NBA players’ initiative was an unusual display of power by professional athletes, the culmination of a Black protest tradition launched by legends such as Bill Russell, Muhammad Ali, and John Carlos and Tommie Smith. After the first decision not to take the court came a feverish period of limbo: Should the players end their season, or continue playing? Was Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving right all the time saying the season should never be over again? Above all, how could this group of rich, famous, mostly black men use their influence to stop police violence?
George Hill (center) of the Milwaukee Bucks reads a statement to the media at AdventHealth Arena on August 26.
Jesse D. Garrabrant / NBAE via Getty Images
The answers revolve around the three basketball courts at Walt Disney World in Florida, where the NBA created a coronavirus-free bubble amid the pandemic that changed lives as we know it. This is where NBA players have the most opportunity, attention and leverage to change sports as we know it, and create the most powerful player movement in history.
Carlos and Smith would have been ignored if they raised a fist at a protest march instead of at the medal standings at the 1968 Summer Olympics. Kaepernick would still be in the NFL if he protested Tuesday instead of Sunday. To maximize their impact, NBA players need the NBA stage. They need to stay in the bubble, where they can exert the most influence.
‘When I raised my fist at the Olympics, I could not do it for the Apollo Theater. I could not do it in Central Park, ‘Carlos told me this week. “I had to do it where the world could see it so they could evaluate it in terms of ‘Hey, man, am I involved in systemic racism?’ ”
Outside the bell, the collective voice and presence of the players would be diluted. They could march in the streets – if not, as the Boston Celtics’ Jaylen Brown indicated – but they would not have millions of TV viewers and dozens of interviews with prisoner media in Orlando, Florida. Irving is a perfect example of how little attention even star players get out of the bubble: After the injured Nets guard said the season should be canceled to keep the focus on social justice, Irving’s activism and charity have received less coverage than , for example, the strip club chicken wings named after LA Clippers guard Lou Williams.
Tommie Smith (left) and John Carlos (right), gold and bronze medalists in the 200-meter dash at the 1968 Summer Olympics, are protesting against the unfair treatment of black people in the United States.
It would be easy, but short-sighted, to make the decision to resume selfishly, or to claim that NBA players care more about winning games than saving lives. Yes, the players have millions of dollars in salary to lose. Their champion windows are fleeting. They do not want to alienate fans to a new job deal with owners. And most of them have an almost fine desire to play. Hoopers need to hop, whatever.
But in this case, the best social justice strategy aligns with their personal interests. The only people who can immediately force their strike to act are NBA team owners. Stopping the playoffs for several days propelled owners more of their billions into meaningful social change. Canceling the season would have been the nuclear option for players. It would have made the league fight for its own survival, not black people. It would not have put significant pressure on state lawmakers to pass stricter use of force or end qualified police immunity.
By continuing to compete, players retain their options. As former Georgetown basketball coach John Thompson told me before his autobiography, when discussing the strategy behind his legendary walkout on the discriminatory NCAA rule on academic fitness, Proposition 42, “The fear of the riot is more powerful than the riot even though.”
So what are the options for the players if there is a senseless shot again? Perhaps they can delay the start of a game to broadcast video of the final moments of Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd and Jacob Blake. They could throw the ref the opening tip, then walk off the court and talk about the murder of Breonna Taylor. Maybe the Bucks, who started this move, will reach Game 7 of the final against LeBron James’ Los Angeles Lakers – and both teams could decide to end the season right there, without a champion. Now that they have decided not to end the season yet, the possibilities are endless.
The biggest moments in sports are about getting up to the moment and performing under pressure. This is that moment. The stakes are actually life and death. By continuing to play, the NBA fraternity can shine the brightest light on injustice and defend victims of oppression.
Carlos, the 1968 Olympic hero, said the Lakers invited him to speak to their team via Zoom about a week ago, before the strike was announced. He completely refused to open up what they were talking about, “but I said this – they are at the crossroads, as I was in Mexico. I had my vision, my ideas on how we could make this a better society. But I realized that if I lost that focus, it would never come, I had to stay focused and make sure I got to the winning position.
“If I did not come in victorious, everything else is out the window.”
