NBA players walked out on their season, 53 years before a police officer shot Jacob Blake, in the fall of 1967, Dr. Harry Edwards founded the Olympic Project for Human Rights. The goal was to fight racial injustice. Edwards ultimately helped engineer a boycott of the 1968 Games. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, then Lew Alcindor, and other Black athletes refused to participate. Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their fists on a podium. Edwards stood by them. And he has watched as other athletes have taken similar stands in the half-century since." data-reactid="16">Some 53 years before NBA players dropped out of their season, 53 years before a police officer shot Jacob Blake, in the fall of 1967, Dr. Harry Edwards founded the Olympic Project for Human Rights. The goal was to fight racial injustice. Edwards eventually helped plan a boycott of the 1968 Games. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, then Lew Alcindor, and other black athletes refused to participate. Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their fists on a podium. Edwards was at their side. And it has since seen other athletes take similar stances over the half century.
“There have been boycotts in the past,” he says.
NBA playoffs?" data-reactid="22">But this? A league-wide strike in the name of human rights? During the NBA playoffs?
“This is unprecedented,” Edwards told Yahoo Sports. This is why the multi-sport movement that took place on Wednesday also brought him, perhaps the world’s foremost authority on athlete activism, some time to “wrap my mind”.
“You can demonstrate, and I am in favor of demonstrating,” he said on the phone Wednesday night. “But at the end of the day, I always supported the strongest action possible. And that was a boycott. And this is something that has really caught everyone’s attention. And it will spread. “
NBA are sending a message: We are serious about this. Stop killing us! It's more important that we deal with that than we play a basketball game and entertain you out here. Stop killing us.”" data-reactid="25">A boycott, or more precisely a strike, “puts more teeth into the situation than a protest where statements are made,” Edwards explained. “Kaepernick made a statement. Tommie Smith and John Carlos made a statement. The athletes who boycott with the NBA today are sending a message: we are serious about this. Stop killing us! It is more important that we take care of it than we play a basketball game and entertain you here. Stop killing us. “
“That’s the message,” he continued. “Now the problem becomes, as I said to some athletes and coaches … how do you create a strategy that takes you to the next steps? And this is always the challenge: to go from protest … to progress. “
Should NBA players leave the season?
NBA players met for nearly three hours Wednesday night at Disney World’s Coronado Springs resort. The question looming throughout the meeting, sources told Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes, was the big one: Should they walk out on the remainder of the season?" data-reactid="39">The NBA players met for nearly three hours Wednesday night at the Disney World resort in Coronado Springs. The question that loomed during the meeting, sources told Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes, was the biggest: Should they be out for the rest of the season?
The Los Angeles Lakers and the Los Angeles Clippers voted to do just that, sources told Haynes. Other teams voted to play.
basketball any more than Kaepernick was protesting the flag and the anthem.” Rather, they’re sending a message about police brutality. A strike isn’t the endgame. It’s a means to real, tangible change. The players, Edwards said, should be negotiating a strategic plan for enacting that change. The threat of a full-season strike is leverage in those negotiations. But, Edwards asked: “Why would they boycott games once they have a strategic plan?”" data-reactid="41">But for Edwards, “I don’t think that’s the problem now. They don’t boycott basketball any more than Kaepernick protested the flag and the anthem. “Rather, they are sending a message about police brutality. A strike is not the end game. It is a means to real and tangible change. The players. Edwards said, they should negotiate a strategic plan to implement that change. The threat of a strike for the entire season is leverage in those negotiations. But Edwards asked, “Why should they boycott the games once they have a strategic plan. ? “
NBA franchises. “They can pick up the telephone and call a governor, and a governor will pick up,” Edwards explained. “They can call the attorney general, and the attorney general will pick up. They can call the mayor, and the police chief of a local town, and then have one of the athletes go with them to talk about these issues that we have to clean up." data-reactid="42">Edwards’ advice to players is this: “You have to convince people that they are in the best position to use what they have access to to force changes.” By this, first of all, he means the billionaires who own NBA franchises. “They can pick up the phone and call a governor, and a governor will answer,” Edwards explained. “They can call the Attorney General and the Attorney General will answer. They can call the mayor and the police chief of a local town, and then ask one of the athletes to go with them to talk about these problems that we need to clean up.
basketball being played, and who’ll suffer if it isn’t played— now have incentive to help the players push for change. “So there's some things that they can leverage,” Edwards said. “But they've got to be strategic about it.”" data-reactid="43">“In other words, these are people who have resources they can leverage to achieve this situation [fixed]. So owners, sponsors, “broadcast partners – anyone who benefits from basketball being played and who will suffer if it isn’t played – now have incentives to help players push for change.” So there are some things they can take advantage of, “he said. Edwards. “But they have to be strategic about it.”
Protest for progress
NBA’s board of governors will convene virtually as well. At some point, players, coaches, league officials, owners and other stakeholders will need to engage one another. And they’ll have to work together." data-reactid="49">The players will meet again on Thursday to formulate that strategy. The NBA Board of Governors will also meet virtually. At some point, players, coaches, league executives, owners and other stakeholders will have to commit to each other. And they will have to work together.
“It’s for the owners, the sponsors, the players, to all come out with a united front, saying, ‘We’ll go to the governor of Wisconsin, and we’ll make our way through the attorney general, the local district attorney, the commissioner of police, the groups of neighborhood organization and so on, ‘”Edwards said.
NBA owners at Wednesday’s meeting, suggesting they weren’t doing enough to support players and Black people facing systemic racism." data-reactid="51">Milwaukee Bucks players have already spoken to Wisconsin politicians. They released a statement calling on “the Wisconsin state legislature to reunite after months of inactivity and take meaningful steps to address issues of police accountability, brutality and criminal justice reform.” Later, they will need others to echo their call. LeBron James, according to Haynes’ sources, was critical of the NBA owners at Wednesday’s meeting, suggesting they weren’t doing enough to support players and people of color facing systemic racism.
If the owners refuse to do more, perhaps the strike will continue. But workers don’t just strike to strike. Players don’t protest just to protest. As Edwards likes to say: they protest for progress. The progress, therefore, could bring the playoffs back into operation.
