Kyrie Irving reportedly made an impassioned plea for NBA players to sit out the season's resumptionNBAE/GETTY IMAGES
NBPA Exec Dir Michele Roberts said that the players spent the weekend “discussing how they could best use ‘our obvious influence -- either by playing or not playing -- to make sure we enhance and move [the Black Lives Matter] this movement forward’ rather than distracting from it,” according to Shelburne & Wojnarowski of ESPN.com. Nearly 100 NBA players participated in a Friday night call, highlighted by Nets G and NBPA VP Kyrie Irving making a case “against resuming the season in Orlando.” Roberts said, “It's not a question of play or not play. It's a question of, does playing again harm a movement that we absolutely, unequivocally embrace? And then whether our play can, in fact, highlight, encourage and enhance this movement." Sources said that several players on the call said that they were “considering sitting out the remainder of the season in order to focus on social justice issues, or because they were uncomfortable with the proposed plans to resume the season with 22 teams in a campus-like environment in Orlando.” Others players argued that the NBA “can bring more attention to the movement by playing and using the league's platforms afforded them once the season resumes.” Roberts mentioned to several players that one of the "most powerful examples of athletes using their platform to protest and promote social change" came from John Carlos and Tommie Smith after they raced at the ’68 Mexico City Games (ESPN.com, 6/15).
KYRIE MAKES HIS PRESENCE KNOWN: ESPN.com Adrian Wojnarowski cited sources as saying that Irving during Friday's call made an "impassioned plea for players to make a stand and sit out the season's resumption." Several players on the call suggested that they would be "willing to sit out the season -- and numerous more discussing social issues, league economics and, ultimately, a sense that they needed to be united in a decision" (ESPN.com, 6/12). Irving told players, “I don’t support going into Orlando. I’m not with the systematic racism and the bullshit. ... Something smells a little fishy" (THEATHLETIC.com, 6/12). However, sources said that Irving later in the call said that he would "stand with the group and travel to Disney World in Orlando if the players agreed that was the right call." Sources cited Irving as saying, "If it's worth the risk, then let's go and do it. But if you're not with it, it's OK, too. We've got options" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 6/12). Wojnarowksi wrote Irving "forged a reputation as a disruptor within his career, and that's emerging again at this crucial moment." One player said, "I'm not as interested in him as the messenger than I am in the message." Sources said that in some instances in the past several days, Irving has "assured some in the NBPA that he's aligned with the broader plan surrounding the league's return in Orlando -- and then directed a far more skeptical tone to players he has engaged with within the Nets and across the league" (ESPN.com, 6/12). On Long Island, Steve Popper wrote Irving on Friday "threatened to throw the NBA’s world off its axis" (NEWSDAY, 6/14).
PLAYERS HAVE VARIETY OF OPINIONS: In Houston, Jonathan Feigen notes players have "expressed a wide variety of opinions about where resuming the season might fit or conflict with the movement." Rockets G Austin Rivers noted how the resumption of the season "would benefit the societal cause, with players able to contribute money from salaries that would otherwise go unpaid." He wrote on Instagram, "We can do both. We can play and we can help change the way black lives are lived. I think we have (to)! But canceling and boycotting [a] return doesn’t do that in my opinion. Guys want to play and provide and help change!!!!" However, Lakers C Dwight Howard released a statement "arguing that players should keep their focus and others’ attention on more critical issues." He wrote, "Basketball, or entertainment period, isn’t needed at this moment, and will only be a distraction. Sure it might not distract us the players, but we have resources at hand majority of our community don’t have. And the smallest distraction for them can start a trickle-down effect that may never stop" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 6/15). Meanwhile, ESPN's Jay Williams said if the NBA opts not to play while other sports forge ahead, then "voices other than LeBron James or Kevin Durant, those voices will diminished to a degree because other sports leagues will be out front and center” ("Get Up," ESPN, 6/15).
WHAT WOULD LEBRON DO? USA TODAY's Andrew Joseph noted even as more players "supported Irving's sentiment," Clippers G Patrick Beverley yesterday tweeted that the "fate of the NBA season will all come down to LeBron James." Beverley believes that if James "decided that he wanted to play, the rest of the 22 teams invited to Orlando (and the players) would follow suit." He indicated that the "business of basketball will ultimately be the driving force" (USA TODAY, 6/14). THE ATHLETIC's Sam Amick cited sources as saying that James "believes playing in Orlando won’t deter his ability to continue inspiring change" (THEATHLETIC.com, 6/12). ESPN’s Mike Golic Jr said, “People are going to look at it as, ‘LeBron wants to add hardware to the container. Of course he’d be incentivized to keep going.' For LeBron, it is going to be incumbent on him to … put that message in line with still wanting to support all the things around Black Lives Matter, around the reforms and initiatives against police brutality, making sure that is still at the forefront.” ESPN's Trey Wingo: "Uneasy is the head that wears the crown, and LeBron James is that guy for this league. We’ll look and listen very carefully, hopefully soon, to see what he has to say about everything that is going on” (“Golic & Wingo,” ESPN Radio, 6/15).
NBA WON'T FORCE PLAYERS' HANDS: Roberts said that no player is being "mandated to play and there will be no repercussions -- besides financially -- if a player decides to sit out the season." Roberts: “I don’t believe any player would say this was forced upon them, it’s not. Not a single player has to play. This is not involuntary servitude." However, Roberts said that the "consensus she received from players over weeks of conversations is that most want to return to play and try to finish the season." She added, “The players are where they want to be. They want to give it a shot and if it doesn’t work, well, we tried. Hopefully nothing catastrophic will happen and we can just figure out Plan B." Roberts cautioned, "If the worst would happen and it would spread, we shut it down" (BOSTON GLOBE, 6/14).
