NBA Plans To Let Players Have Social Justice Messages On Jerseys
According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, when the NBA resumes its season possibly next month at Walt Disney World near Orlando, Florida, the league will reportedly allow players to customize their jerseys and replace the last name on their jerseys with a statement on social justice.
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The Players Association reportedly sent initial details of the plan to players late Saturday and is currently working with both the league and Nike on how to implement it. Charania explained in a tweet, “NBA and the players union have been discussing various ways to allow players to express social justice issues in season restart.”
NBPA president Chris Paul told Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated, “We’re just trying to continue to shed light on the different social justice issues that guys around our league continue to talk about day in and day out. People are saying that social justice will be off of everybody’s mind in Orlando. With these jerseys, it doesn’t go away.”
Many players including LeBron James and Kyrie Irving have been extremely vocal about social justice issues in recent weeks, following the recent police killing of George Floyd. They have promised to keep using their voice and platform to shed light on the injustice happening in the black community.
According to the official website, the NBA will officially resume play on July 30 after what will be a nearly-four month hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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