For Kyle Korver, choosing a social justice message to use on the back of his Milwaukee Bucks shirt was easy. The white male who openly expressed white’s privilege chose “Black Lives Matter”.
“I just think that’s the message right now. Everything I ever hoped to convey on the back of a shirt is represented in these three words,” Korver told The Undefeated in a message on Sunday.
NBA players are allowed to have social justice messages on the back of their jerseys during the first four days of the resumption of the NBA season starting July 30th. After four days, players can choose to still have the social justice message above their number on the back of their shirts, but their surname must be below.
In the aftermath of George Floyd’s death to police brutality, which has evoked protests and changes around the world, NBA players plan to make a statement and continue the conversation about racial injustice and police brutality when the season resumes at Walt Disney World.
National Basketball Players Association executive director Michele Roberts told The Undefeated on Saturday that all 350 eligible NBA players made the decision as to whether to have a social justice message to wear on the shirts.
At least 17, including Los Angeles Lakers striker LeBron James, have decided to continue using their names instead of using a social justice message.
The list of suggested social justice messages agreed upon by NBPA and NBA are: Black Lives Matter; Say their names; Vote; I can not breathe; Justice; Peace; Equality; Freedom; Enough; Power to the people; Justice Now; Say his name; Yes Se Puede (Yes, we can); Liberation; See you; Hear; respect us; You love us; Listen; Hear; Standing; Ally; Anti-racist; I’m a man; Speak; How many more; Group economy; Education reform; and mentor.
Korver said the NBA players will have a “great opportunity” to keep their activism message active as the season restarts with their messages on the shirt and other statements on and off the pitch.
“It is a great opportunity. It is a unique moment. We are not yet able to interact with each other due to the security protocols in place. But I think everyone is very aware of the opportunity and wants to capitalize on it,” Korver, 39 years old said.
Korver previously recognized the issues of white privilege and racism in his first-person essay for The Players’ Tribune entitled “Privileged” on April 8, 2019. The 17-year-old NBA veteran told The Undefeated last year of having received some “great emotion” response from his written words which meant a lot to him.
“I really tried to put my heart into it,” Korver had already told The Undefeated. “I really tried to think about it. It is one thing to have random thoughts in your head and have a conversation with someone behind closed doors. Another thing is to put out something that people are going to criticize. It was really healthy for on a staff [level], the best part of it, there have been many thoughts, years of attempts at understanding and conversations to get to that point. But I think after doing it, I thought it was just the starting point to try to understand and try to help. “
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