After four and a half months of suspension due to the coronavirus, the NBA restarted its season this morning. with a gesture of protest against the racism of the players and coaches of the Utah Jazz and the New Orleans Pelicans, who knelt during the American anthem.
The players, with their arms interlocked, They wore black T-shirts with the slogan ‘Black Lives Matter’ (The lives of black people matter), which is also recorded in the center of the spectator-free court of the Disney World (Orlando) sports complex.
The league and players pledged that this end of its season, despite the absence of fans and the conditions of isolation in the Disney World ‘bubble’, will contribute to the current protests against racism triggered by the crime of the African American George Floyd at the hands of a white cop two months ago.
The gesture of kneeling down has become one of the symbols of the massive demonstrations for racial equalityHe and the end of police brutality that have taken place in the United States and other countries in recent months.
This type of protest was popularized in 2016 por American football player Colin Kaepernick, who was at the time subject to harsh criticism, including from President Donald Trump, and was never hired by any NFL team again.
Hours before the game, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver advanced that would respect “a peaceful protest” even though league rules have dictated for years that players must remain standing during the performance of the anthem. “We will see what happens if that is the case but I understand that this is a unique moment in our history”Silver stressed in an interview with CNN.
NBA players have prepared many other gestures and activities for their demands, including the removal of their names from shirts and their replacement by messages in favor of social justice.
“We’ll keep our foot on the gas”
Pelicans rookie Zion Williamson, one of the sensations of the season, wore the word ‘Peace’ on his uniform on Thursday, while both his teammate Lonzo Ball and the French Utah jazz center Rudy Gobert opted for ‘Equality ‘(Equality).
Numerous NBA players, including superstars like Giannis Antetokounmpo or Russell Westbrook, participated in the Floyd crime rallies.
After the collective protest, LeBron James assured that the NBA players will maintain their social demands during the months of competition at Disney World (Orlando). “We understand what is happening in society right now and we are using this NBA platform as players, as coaches and as an organization to maintain a strong stance,” said ‘King’ James after the victory of his team, Los Angeles Lakers, against Los Angeles Clippers (103-101).
Both in that game, and in the previous one between the Utah Jazz and the New Orleans Pelicans, all the players and coaches staged a protest against racism and police brutality by kneeling on the court during the American anthem. This is a good start. It’s great to have the NBA back and I hope our friends are proud of us tonight »James said.
The NBA and its players pledged that this end of their season be dedicated to keeping alive the climate of protest triggered by the crime of African-American George Floyd at the hands of a white police officer two months ago.
During the training and pre-game stage at Disney World, the players asked that their press contacts be more dedicated to discussing issues of racial equality and social justice than basketball. «There has been progress. But in the past, when there has been progress, we have stopped pressing the accelerator a little. We can’t do that, “said James, who this Thursday preferred to keep his name on the shirt.
“We are dealing with a lot of racism, a lot of social injustice and police brutality (…) Now we have our ears open, but we cannot stop. We will keep our foot on the accelerator as we have in the past two months, “he said.
During their stay in the ‘bubble’, LeBron and many other players They have demanded daily concrete actions such as the arrest of the policemen who killed Breonna Taylor in March., a nurse who was shot by agents who broke into her apartment as part of a request to capture a suspect who was already detained.
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