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Anthony Davis Joins LeBron In Eschewing Message On Jersey

Davis admitted that choosing between his family name or a social justice message was not an easy decisionNBAE/GETTY IMAGES

Lakers C Anthony Davis has joined LeBron James in "opting to keep his name on the back of his jersey as opposed to a social justice message when the NBA season resumes in Orlando," according to Dan Cancian of NEWSWEEK. Davis said, "The name Davis is something that I try to represent every time I try to step on the floor, my family." He admitted that choosing between his family name or a social justice message "had not been an easy choice to make." Davis said that he "remained as committed to social justice as ever." Cancian notes players can wear one of 29 approved social justice messages "for the first four days of the resumption," after which their names need to be underneath the message. James on Saturday "explained he had opted to keep his name on the back of his jersey as the messages jointly agreed upon by the NBA and the NBPA did not align with his plans." He said, "I don't need to have something on the back of my jersey for people to understand my mission or know what I'm about and what I'm here to do" (NEWSWEEK.com, 7/13).

INSIDE MORE JERSEY CHOICES: In Philadelphia, Keith Pompey reported 76ers F Al Horford "won’t have a social-justice message on the back of his jersey for the NBA restart." He said, "That was a good idea initially by the NBA. Ultimately, I’m not going to have one. I thought back and forth on it a little bit, but I’m not going to have a phrase.” Horford added, "I kind of understand and share Mike Scott’s sentiment a little bit. Even though it’s a great platform for us to promote things, I think that maybe (you should) have the ability to say what you would want to say and leave it like that. But at the end of the day, everyone ... makes their own decision. Whatever they feel is right, whatever they want to do" (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 7/12). Meanwhile, in Sacramento, Jason Anderson reported Kings F Marvin Bagley III chose “Freedom” for his jersey. Bagley said, "That one word means a lot to me, whenever I see it or hear it. There’s a lot going on, and with all of this going on, until African Americans have an equal playing field, we’re not free.” Kings G De'Aaron Fox will wear "Anti-Racist" while F Kent Bazemore will sport "Education Reform," and Fox indicated that he made his choice after talking to his teammate. Fox: "Baze was talking about education reform and things like that, and I think it’s all racism -- blatant racism or systematic racism -- so that’s why I picked anti-racist for my jersey. I think it touches a lot of bases” (SACRAMENTO BEE, 7/12).

CALLING OUT SENATOR: In L.A., Broderick Turner reported Clippers coach Doc Rivers had a "powerful message" directed at U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), who was "critical of the NBA's choices in allowing social justice messages on players' jerseys and 'Black Lives Matter' to be painted on the courts for games." Hawley last Friday in a letter to NBA Commissioner Adam Silver "questioned why the list of approved messages didn't include 'Back the Blue' or 'Support Our Troops.'" Rivers said, "There's no league that does more for the military than the NBA. But how about that, Senator? I'll make a challenge: We will do things for the troops as long as he acknowledged #BlackLivesMatter. I think that would be really cool for him to do." Rivers added, "I guarantee you we've done more for the military than probably that Senator. And I guarantee you this: We also are going to do things for #BlackLivesMatter. How about him? Maybe he should join into that" (L.A. TIMES, 7/12).

SHARPEN FOCUS: TNT's Charles Barkley said of whether sports is oversaturated with politics, "We're turning into a circus. We're going to spend all our time instead of talking about racial equality, racial justice and economic justice, we spend all our time worried about who's kneeling and who's not kneeling, what things are being said on buses, and what's being said on jerseys. I think we're missing the point. We need police reform. We need prison reform, and those are the number one and two things we need to focus on." Barkley on if sports should be a safe haven from politics said, "I really don't know the answer to that because we are in a divided country, and sports used to be a place where fans could go and get away from reality. Now it's such a mixture. I think it's going to be fascinating to watch what happens with the fans. The fans are at such a disadvantage. They're going through a pandemic, and they don't want to see a bunch of rich people talking about stuff all the time" ("Power Lunch," CNBC, 7/12).

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