The NBA season came to an abrupt halt on March 11, 2020 after a slight COVID-19 breakout amongst players. After nearly five months off, the league introduced a concept known as the NBA “bubble” as a way to resume the league safely. With talks of the bubble materializing, some players saw the league returning as a negative, with NBA all-star Kyrie Irving reportedly suggesting that the NBA returning would potentially draw attention away from the protests against the injustice going on in the country… he was ridiculed and shut down for proposing the idea by fans and media members. However, merely one month after the league started the bubble, talks are brewing of shutting it down once again in the wake of the shooting of Jacob Blake. Here’s what this means for the league and how it affects the outside world:
The Lead Up
Players were already skeptical about the league resuming and taking attention away from social issues that need to be addressed. The aforementioned Kyrie Irving was among the leaders of this sentiment. After news broke of players questioning whether resuming play would ultimately help or harm the ongoing movement, media personalities such as Kendrick Perkins and Stephen A. Smith began to publicly call him out for being what they described as “a disruptor”.
In the words of J. Cole, “Everything comes back around full circle.”
After yet another senseless, unlawful and downright cowardly shooting of an unarmed black man by police, the league finds itself on the verge of shutting down once again. The difference between this potential shutdown and the earlier shutdown however; the players didn’t choose to shut things down initially. This time, things are different.
The Result
NBA players are some of the most visible people in the world. Their presence in society will be felt regardless of what they say or do. For the majority of the league to be in solidarity during times like these speaks as a testament to the enormous stranglehold they have on public opinion. Even if what the players do during this boycott doesn’t directly end police brutality, doing something is better than doing nothing.
Twenty-one states have at least one NBA team. The money lost by not only the NBA but all other American sports leagues (excluding the NHL) during this boycott, however long it lasts, affects nearly half of the states in the country. Even if the damage to the state’s pockets are minimal, they will feel it eventually. If losing lives doesn’t speak to the people in charge, money will.
So, will ending the NBA season stop police brutality? No. Will it show that some of the most visible figures in the country are not afraid to take a stand? Yes. Actions speak louder than words and in this case, the players are hoping for action to lead to a bigger, more permanent action.
–Sojourner Freeman
