The NBA is doing multiple things in order to push for social justice and change as they prepare to return and finish out the season. The league will be displaying “Black Lives Matter” on every court and has also given players the option of replacing the name on the back of their jersey with an approved slogan.
LeBron James made the decision to not replace his name and his Los Angeles Lakers co-star Anthony Davis has done the same.
LeBron felt that none of the NBA-approved messages really aligned with his overall goal social justice mission and goals. For Davis, it was more about what his name means to him and what he aims to represent any time he steps foot on the court.
“For me, I think the name ‘Davis’ is something I try to represent every time I step on the floor; my family. I was torn between the two,” Davis explained.
“I didn’t know what to decide. I just think my last name is something that is very important to. Social justice is as well, but just holding my family name will be represented as we go through this process. It’s the name of people who built me my entire career to get to this point. We’ll have a ton of ways to kind of represent what we stand for.”
That last point is an extremely important one and something that the NBA has been pushing to ensure happens. The league is doing a lot to continue to push for social justice in this country and allow players to have that platform as well.
A player not putting a slogan on the back of his jersey is not an indication of his feelings towards the movement and the work that they are willing to put in to accomplish the overall goal of equality for minorities in America.
Anthony Davis believes players will have platform in Orlando to promote social justice
While placing a saying on the back of a jersey is a great symbolic gesture, there is much more that players can do in order to promote that important fight on racism in America. Davis truly believes that players will have a huge platform in the bubble.
“Everyone in Orlando, we’re going to obviously be talking about everything that’s going on from a social injustice standpoint,” he noted.
“I think the platform of the NBA, at that time we’re going to be the only ones on TV. So I think we’ll be able to have more people in the room from other teams and receive other ideas and figure out how we can change the world, what we can do individually and as a unit to make change.”
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