Barack Obama influenced NBA season
When Jacob Blake was killed in Kenosha, Wisconsin at the hands of the police, the National Basketball Association season teetered on the brink of being canceled. The Milwaukee Bucks did not consult with the rest of the players or coaches from inside the NBA bubble to discuss their plans of a boycott. The Bucks had decided they would protest by not playing a scheduled first-round playoff game against the Orlando Magic, as they are the team that are closest to Kenosha.
Ultimately, the rest of the league supported the Bucks with their message but were not happy about the fact that they were blindsided by the decision. Top stars even contemplated having the season canceled as they weren’t sure whether their social justice and political reform messages were getting across to everyone outside of the NBA bubble in Florida.
However, they decided they needed to consult with one man before they made any decisions. Not the current President of the United States Donald Trump, but rather his predecessor Barack Obama.
“I think it was close to midnight when Chris, CP, calls with LeBron, Carmelo [Anthony], I think Russ Westbrook was on the phone, and the conversation we had was along the lines LeBron spoke about,” Obama said on Lebron James’ barber shop talk show, via ESPN. “Protest is useful in terms of raising awareness, but given the power that the NBA players had, my suggestion was that we use that platform to see if you can start asking for some specifics. This isn’t something that’s just a one-off. That’s sadly what we’ve seen, as it happens again and again.
“So, one of the suggestions I had for the players was: Is it possible for you guys to set up an office that allows you, on an ongoing basis, to take best practices that are going to start making incidents like [Blake] less likely?”
It was still just the first-round of the playoffs and while players had been in the bubble for quite a while still wrapping up the regular season, they were not afraid to sacrifice the season to send a larger message. James who went on to win the fourth NBA championship of his career and his first with the Los Angeles Lakers had no issues abandoning the season if he had to, despite turning 36-years-old in December.
“There was a time where we were ready to leave too — the Lakers. Myself included, we were ready to leave,” James said, via ESPN. “And we were trying to figure out if we leave or if we stay, what is our plan, what is our call for action? And I’m lucky enough to have a friend, the 44th President, that allowed me and allowed CP and allowed us to get on the phone with him and get guidance.
“When there’s things going on — when it’s chaos — when people don’t know which move to make or how to handle a situation, the best thing you can do is have someone that you can talk to and give you guidance and have that type of leadership. And I’m lucky enough to have a friend that gave us those words of leadership and those words of saying, ‘OK, this can be a plan of action; this can be something you guys can ask for. And if we can get that, then we can continue to push the needle and you guys can also continue the season, as well.’”
Thankfully, cooler heads prevailed, and the players opted to take Obama’s advice with the NBAPA and NBA agreeing to form a social justice coalition comprised of players, coaches, and team directors. As a result, NBA arenas were used as voting centers for the elections and players were better able to get their message across.
It remains to be seen when the 2020-21 NBA season will commence though as the league is pushing for a late-December start, while the players would prefer a later date.
