Tonight is one of the most important nights of the NBA regular season: Martin Luther King Day, or MLK Day. Established to honor the action of the pastor in favor of civil rights for ethnic minorities, this holiday in the United States is also a major date for the North American basketball league. Sit down, we’ll explain.
Martin Luther King Jr.
If you haven’t slept in history class, this name rings very quickly in your mind. A black pastor born in Atlanta in 1929, he campaigned from 1954 for civil rights in the United States. In a country marked by strong racial segregation, especially in the southern states, he led many actions such as the boycott of Montgomery buses following the arrest of Rosa Parks.
His most famous fact will nevertheless remain the historic speech titled “I have a dream” delivered in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington on August 28, 1963. Having obtained the vote of several laws abolishing any principle of racial segregation in the United States in 1964 and 1965, he will also devote himself thereafter to the fight against poverty, while also committing himself against the war in Vietnam. He was assassinated on April 4, 1968 by James Earl Ray, a segregationist. A national mourning is pronounced by President Lyndon Johnson and the funeral of the pastor will gather more than 300,000 people.
The link with the NBA? You may not know it yet, but he is very strong. On April 4, 1968, the Celtics of Bill Russell must face the Sixers of Wilt Chamberlain in the Playoffs. If then-NBA President Walter Kennedy leaves the decision up to the franchises, the owners want to keep the game. Very heavily involved in the fight for equality, Russell consults his team – eight of the ten members of which are black – to find out if they should play the part. The same will be done on the Sixers side.
Both teams eventually agree to participate, not wanting to create additional riots to those that have broken out in much of the nation’s major cities. The match in question will be soullessthe players having no head for the sport after the great upheaval of the announcement of the death of Martin Luther King Jr.
There followed nearly 15 years of political debate to try to make the third Monday in January a public holiday dedicated to the homage of the man who allowed so many civil advances in the country of Uncle Sam. In 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed a law officially establishing this holiday. MLK Day was born, it will be observed for the first time in 1986.
Arrived in 1984 at the head of the NBA, David Stern takes up the subject and also establishes an MLK Day: a special day of matches on the third Monday of January, during which the teams will play throughout the day to highlight the action of Doctor King. Involved in making the league as inclusive as possible, Stern also shows exemplary severity with those who refuse this proposal. The Governor of Arizona opposes the holding of the holiday? The NBA won’t hold an event in Phoenix until 1994.
This day is since the occasion to use the hearing of the league to speak about the history of Martin Luther King Jr, but also to evoke its heritage and the current struggles of minorities, in a country still marked by racist acts in recent years. Games for everyone, whether in the United States or elsewhere since the game day encompasses a large part of the time zones prime time global.
Each year, about twenty teams – 18 this season, to be precise – therefore play to remember the life of the pastor but all franchises are involved, like the Nets who made a point of paying their tribute last night. The NBA also organizes social actions carried out with people in need on this day.
Continuing to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. pic.twitter.com/OCl9HyqHjL
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) January 15, 2023
Happy MLK Day everyone! Beyond basketball, the duty of memory for the fight of a man in favor of equality. The players are going to treat us tonight on the field, having at heart to pay tribute to Martin Luther King Jr, without whom many things would probably not be the same today in the United States.
Sources : France Info, ESPN, National Civil Rights Museum, NBA.
