Amid uncertainty on when and how the next NBA season will start, the league’s players remain certain of one thing.
After spending the season restart addressing systemic racism with words and actions, they have no intentions of confining their activism to the bubble.
“One will hope that no matter the outcome, the organizing and demands for change continue,” said David Leonard, a professor in the School of Languages, Cultures, and Race at Washington State University who teaches classes on the politics of sports and is the author of After Artest: The NBA and the Assault on Blackness.
“There’s a danger that if Biden wins, there’s this belief that everything is going to change or everything will become perfect. But the issues surrounding criminal justice and police reforms, these are longstanding and institutionalized that transcend any single moment,” Leonard said. “Though the election clearly matters, what happens after the election is also important.”
Among the plans to continue the movement after Nov. 3, owners of all 30 NBA teams how vowed to contribute a total of $30 million each year for the next 10 years to the NBA Foundation. The NBA and NBPA plan to have ongoing talks on how teams can improve diversity among the coaching, front office and ownership ranks, as well as ensure greater inclusion of Black-owned and operated businesses at team events.