The NBA and the national basketball players association are in full force controlling and paving a new path with their players and platforms to make way for a new movement of social justice. At the start of the reopening of the NBA’s playoff season for 2020 in Orlando, the NBA was forced with the fact that players were opposing the reopening due to recent social events. Kyrie Irving, along with his former teammate LeBron James have used their strong and very powerful platform to bring to light the issues with race and equality during the reopening of the NBA during the pandemic.
There is a huge change right now happening during the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement is it. The world is skeptical about allowing high performance athletes to use there platforms to convey their message. One extreme example of this is Lebron James. James has had an amazing career and built a huge following. People question the fact that he speaks freely about his opinion but at the same time love it. The NBA has had to make several changes in their structure due to the amount of publicity these players are getting for standing up.
(Source: Associated Press/ Mark J. Terrill)
The ability that athletes have to convey a message is extensive, so many people do not like the way athletes use their platform and we can see why. It is something not everyone has. This is the celebrity effect (as it may be understood though sociology). There are many forms of it, but it is believed that they have the social strength and power to be able to sway thousands of people and to make real change. The constant battle between the NBA and their players continues to unfold and the players will not stop using their platforms for change.
Nicholas S.
Sport, Not Games ⚽ 