With more high-profile NBA players choosing to wear the "I Can't Breathe" T-shirts in pregame warmups, a number that "will probably grow in the coming days," Commissioner Adam Silver is "trying to walk a thin line between protecting the business interests of the league and its sponsors and not appearing to mute the voices of its athletes," according to William Rhoden of the N.Y. TIMES. If the NBA's attire rules "refer only to players being obligated to wear official team gear, that’s a quick fix: The manufacturer can simply print 'I Can’t Breathe' shirts -- with the appropriate logos -- and make them available to anyone wishing to wear one." Rhoden: "But I suspect it’s not the brand but the message the league finds troubling." At this point, the players "need organizational help from their union." Emotion "is fine, and statements are fine, but as they join a growing national protest movement against police violence, the players need a game plan." Not every organization "will be as supportive as the Cavaliers and the Nets." Silver is "walking a thin line," and has a "responsibility to protect the league’s image, but in doing so he must ensure that he doesn’t create a suffocating climate in which conscientious athletes find it hard to breathe." As Silver "sits uncomfortably on a powder keg of emotion and protest, he cannot retreat into the rule book" (N.Y. TIMES, 12/10). NBPA Exec Dir Michele Roberts said, “Our players are members of the community. They see, hear and are affected by events -- just like the rest of us. That some have chosen to give voice to recent unfortunate events and communicate their support to the Garner family is yet another reason why I and my colleagues on staff at the NBPA are proud to serve them" (N.Y. TIMES, 12/10).
TOUGH POSITION FOR SILVER: ESPN's Tony Kornheiser said Silver "doesn't want to be perceived as Roger Goodell, as some law-and-order guy. ... But he's got contracts and I think that at some point he's going to have to threaten fines if people change the rules of what they wear and he's going to end up being drawn into an NFL position" ("PTI," ESPN, 12/9). L.A. Times columnist Bill Plaschke said the protest was done in a “respectful and responsible manner and I think the league is going to support this.” However, ESPN's Bomani Jones said of NBA owners, "I would not be shocked if there’s a furious email chain right now to Adam Silver that says we need to keep this under control” ("Around The Horn," ESPN, 12/9).
FOLLOW THE LEADER: In Akron, George Thomas writes under the header, "Status Buys LeBron Plenty Of Free Speech." The Cavaliers F "isn’t dumb," and if anything, James "is free because he realizes something." America "isn’t the be all and end all for his livelihood." James is the "most popular and powerful athlete in the world and he’s definitely the most well-known basketball player." His bank account "isn’t solely reliant upon basketball fans" in the U.S. when "300 million Chinese people are playing hoops and his jersey is the best-selling one there, too" (AKRON BEACON JOURNAL, 12/10). Dallas Morning News columnist Tim Cowlishaw said he "thought it was important" for James to wear the T-shirt, but that he also "liked Adam Silver's response" ("Around The Horn," ESPN, 12/9). SPORTING NEWS' Sean Deveney wrote James has "set an example for both the league and athletes in general." He "may not be carrying on the fight" that Bill Russell, Jim Brown and Muhammad Ali once did, but he "has not been shy about letting his voice be heard on issues that are important to the nation as a whole." James "can’t necessarily speak about these things on a personal level." But he has "found a niche as a voice on issues that have long gone ignored by the country’s biggest star athletes" (SPORTINGNEWS.com, 12/9). In New Jersey, Tara Sullivan writes with the "power of his stardom and the magnitude of his profile, James underscored the changing climate our sports stars now inhabit." Behind James' "example, athletes are speaking up, and being heard, more than ever before" (Bergen RECORD, 12/10). In Detroit, Drew Sharp writes athletes "should rock the boat," and should "unnerve and anger those who profile them as socially vacuous entertainers, only useful for their immense physical gifts." It is "laughable that some insist the NFL and NBA should sanction these athletes for speaking their minds" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 12/10).
