On June 27, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported that the NBA and NBPA are planning to allow players to replace the last name on their jerseys with a statement on social justice when the season resumes inside the Orlando Bubble.
The NBA and NBPA would later release a list of approved social justice statements via ESPN’s Marc Spears:
Black Lives Matter; Say Their Names; Vote; I Can’t Breathe; Justice; Peace; Equality; Freedom; Enough; Power to the People; Justice Now; Say Her Name; SÃ Se Puede (Yes We Can); Liberation; See Us; Hear Us; Respect Us; Love Us; Listen; Listen to Us; Stand Up; Ally; Anti-Racist; I Am A Man; Speak Up; How Many More; Group Economics; Education Reform; and Mentor.
Some NBA players, most notably Jaylen Brown and Mike Scott, were disappointed by the messages curated by the NBA and NBPA. According to Brown, some of the NBPA’s submitted messages were declined by the NBA, and the players themselves didn’t have an opportunity to contribute to the list as much as they would have liked. Brown added that players would still like to submit more messages to the NBA’s approved list, and will try to get that done before the season resumes.
Despite controversy surrounding the NBA’s list of approved messages, some players have already decided what will appear on the back of their jerseys in Orlando.
According to Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes, the first Sacramento King to select a social justice message was Kent Bazemore, who selected ‘Education Reform’ as the cause he would like to represent in Orlando.
.@ChrisBHaynes shared some NBA players' chosen social justice messages they will wear on the back of their jerseys in Orlando pic.twitter.com/yZm5jHPEoa
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) July 8, 2020
Although I am opposed to the season restarting, I am glad to see the NBA do this. Even if it’s just messages on jerseys, it’s a lot more than what certain other sports leagues do. Glad to have guys like Kent on the team, wonder who else will take part.
I really want Bagley to have a So I’m leftist. What you gonna do?-message on his shirt.
A short sighted PR movement at best, and pure trash at worst. I’m sorry to anyone who’s excited about these jerseys, but this whole move smells of making money off of social injustice and comes off pretty trashy on the surface.
If the NBA really wanted to show support for social injustices, some form of player input would have been part of the equation. The money generated from these jersey sales would also be going to the various charities / NPFs from each team’s respective city, 100%. Not 15-20% (of an item that will be marked up over 500% in the first place.) The NBA could certainly afford to do this if they wanted to make a real statement.
I’m not impressed and less enthused to see these being held up in an effort to say “we care” while they rake in jersey sales dollars. No thanks.
I would agree that they should give all the money to charity. And, although I don’t doubt that they will sell these jerseys, I don’t think they have said that they are yet, let alone that they aren’t giving 100% to charity.
Did I miss some announcement about it? Can you share the link?
… [Trackback]
[…] Find More Info here to that Topic: kingsherald.com/articles/kent-bazemore-will-have-education-reform-on-the-back-of-his-jersey-in-orlando/ […]
… [Trackback]
[…] Read More to that Topic: kingsherald.com/articles/kent-bazemore-will-have-education-reform-on-the-back-of-his-jersey-in-orlando/ […]
… [Trackback]
[…] Find More here to that Topic: kingsherald.com/articles/kent-bazemore-will-have-education-reform-on-the-back-of-his-jersey-in-orlando/ […]
… [Trackback]
[…] Find More on that Topic: kingsherald.com/articles/kent-bazemore-will-have-education-reform-on-the-back-of-his-jersey-in-orlando/ […]
… [Trackback]
[…] Info to that Topic: kingsherald.com/articles/kent-bazemore-will-have-education-reform-on-the-back-of-his-jersey-in-orlando/ […]
… [Trackback]
[…] Find More Info here to that Topic: kingsherald.com/articles/kent-bazemore-will-have-education-reform-on-the-back-of-his-jersey-in-orlando/ […]
… [Trackback]
[…] Information to that Topic: kingsherald.com/articles/kent-bazemore-will-have-education-reform-on-the-back-of-his-jersey-in-orlando/ […]
… [Trackback]
[…] Read More on that Topic: kingsherald.com/articles/kent-bazemore-will-have-education-reform-on-the-back-of-his-jersey-in-orlando/ […]
… [Trackback]
[…] Read More on to that Topic: kingsherald.com/articles/kent-bazemore-will-have-education-reform-on-the-back-of-his-jersey-in-orlando/ […]
… [Trackback]
[…] Find More Info here on that Topic: kingsherald.com/articles/kent-bazemore-will-have-education-reform-on-the-back-of-his-jersey-in-orlando/ […]
… [Trackback]
[…] Read More on that Topic: kingsherald.com/articles/kent-bazemore-will-have-education-reform-on-the-back-of-his-jersey-in-orlando/ […]
… [Trackback]
[…] Find More Information here on that Topic: kingsherald.com/articles/kent-bazemore-will-have-education-reform-on-the-back-of-his-jersey-in-orlando/ […]
… [Trackback]
[…] Find More Info here to that Topic: kingsherald.com/articles/kent-bazemore-will-have-education-reform-on-the-back-of-his-jersey-in-orlando/ […]
… [Trackback]
[…] Find More on that Topic: kingsherald.com/articles/kent-bazemore-will-have-education-reform-on-the-back-of-his-jersey-in-orlando/ […]
… [Trackback]
[…] Here you will find 91376 additional Info on that Topic: kingsherald.com/articles/kent-bazemore-will-have-education-reform-on-the-back-of-his-jersey-in-orlando/ […]
… [Trackback]
[…] Find More Information here to that Topic: kingsherald.com/articles/kent-bazemore-will-have-education-reform-on-the-back-of-his-jersey-in-orlando/ […]
… [Trackback]
[…] Find More Information here to that Topic: kingsherald.com/articles/kent-bazemore-will-have-education-reform-on-the-back-of-his-jersey-in-orlando/ […]
Badge Legend