The NBA is "putting the weight of its multibillion-dollar brand and the prestige of its star athletes behind a series of television commercials calling for an end to gun violence," according to a front-page piece by Schonbrun & Barbaro of the N.Y. TIMES. The 30-second spot ran "five times on Friday," but the words "gun control" were "never mentioned." The league said that it "had little internal debate" about working with former N.Y. Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s group, Everytown for Gun Safety, although it "emphasized that its partnership was with Everytown’s educational arm and not its political lobby." NBA President of Social Responsibility & Player Programs Kathy Behrens said that the league "had not shown the ads to team owners." Behrens: “We’re not worried about any political implications." Schonbrun & Barbaro noted the ads "did draw the attention of President Obama, a consistent gun-control advocate, who took to Twitter to praise the league." The partnership between Bloomberg and the NBA "was brokered by an unlikely figure: Spike Lee, a member of Everytown’s creative council." Lee "proposed the idea for the ads" to ESPN President John Skipper, who then then "took it to" NBA Commissioner Adam Silver (N.Y. TIMES, 12/24). Also in N.Y., Michael Powell wrote there is an "undeniably powerful undercurrent to these spots, the mothers of children executed in broad daylight, the father whose daughter was blown away on a college campus." And it is only "somewhat less powerful to listen as a growing number of professional athletes (and semiprofessional college athletes) discover their social and cultural voices." This is the "first time a professional league and a union have sponsored an advertisement against gun violence together" (N.Y. TIMES, 12/24).
EXPECTED FALLOUT: SLATE's Josh Voorhees wrote leagues are "traditionally loath to do anything that could offend potential customers." The fact the league is "now eager to make that distinction" -- that the ad is educational and not political "suggests it has no interest in getting caught in the political crossfire of the national gun debate." That, though, "doesn't change the reality the NBA chose to partner with Bloomberg's group, which was founded to compete with the NRA, and not with any number of other less political educational groups" (SLATE.com, 12/23). In N.Y., Mike Lupica wondered what backlash Warriors G Stephen Curry, who appears in the spot, "will face from all the gun lovers who seem to fear gun sanity the way they seem to fear terrorists, what backlash Chris Paul and LeBron [James] and Carmelo [Anthony] will face. Lupica also wondered if the great stars who sell the tickets and get the ratings and are cheered wherever they go "will be accused of politicizing the issue of gun control the way President Obama is every time there is another shooting." Lupica: "You wonder if the NRA will go after basketball players the way they go after Michael Bloomberg. ... You wonder if the NRA will now view young American sports stars as threats to the Second Amendment" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 12/25). NEWSHOUNDS' Ellen wrote under the header, "Fox Attacks The NBA's Gun Violence Ads" (NEWSHOUNDS.us, 12/25).
PLEADING THE SECOND: ESPN's John Saunders said of the ads, "Historically, professional athletes have clung to the Second Amendment as tightly as the NRA." He added, "Maybe after the movement grows in the NBA, they can explain to the rest of America that, while terrorism is its number one fear, guns will kill or injure a child every half-hour. It is now the number two cause of death among our children, number one amongst African-American children. So at least some athletes realize why not cling to something more valuable than the right to bear arms: your children?” ("The Sports Reporters," ESPN2. 12/27). In Phoenix, Dan Bickley wrote the ad is "bold, historic and bound to ruffle some feathers." Politics and sports "rarely mix," and for Silver, "this is much riskier than kicking a racist owner out of the league." In some NBA markets, the message "will be championed." In markets such as Phoenix, the reaction "might sound a little different." The Suns "have heard no backlash from their fan base yet, but expect some noise" after the five ads ran on Christmas Day (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 12/25).
