The N.B.A. Commissioner, Adam Silver, has been recently asked by the New York Times "How does it feel to be the wokest professional sports league?". Adam Silver then replied, "I didn't know we were given that designation, but I understand the sentiment and we're proud of that." The NBA has the most players that stand up for what they believe in than any other professional sports league, and they say it's because the players have supprt for political activism from the top down. They compared their players to Colin Kaepernick of the NFL. They said if they had a player who kneeled for the National Anthem, he would still be playing, no doubt. The NBA has 25% of its players originally from outside the country, so they must be supportive of them and all of their players beliefs. They have had many players over the years wear warm-up shirts that have a controversial slogan that deals with police brutality or that support the family of an African American who was killed in a way that they believe unfairly. Overall, the NBA is much more supportive of political activism, and it shows.
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Is it important for the NBA to let their athletes have freely express themselves on and off the court? Why?
I think it is important because they have players from all over the world and from many different social classes, and they need to let them be free with their beliefs.
Could the NFL possibly learn from the NBA? How?
I think that the NFL could learn from the NBA because the NBA is not the only organization that has players from all over the place, the NFL does, too. However, the NFL could do a better job of letting their players express themselves. An example would be Colin Kaepernick's incident.
Replies
Well done!!
Yes, I think it is very important for the players to express their thoughts and beliefs no matter if they're on or off the court. Although some of the fans may not like the way they think it is still important for them to express their beliefs. I think they could learn from the NBA considering how they are pretty similar. I also think it would be good if the NFL learns to let their players express themselves.
I belive that it is vital for the NBA to let the players freely express themselves, if they wouldn't the NBA would be under serious fire. I think that the NFL could most definetely learn from the NBA to let players freely express themselves. It's the First Amendment and the NFL is punishing players like Colin for using their freedom of expression.
I agree. It is very important for the athletes of the NFL to expresses their values and opinions freely and without restriction because they are a big part of our nation, and their thoughts could be very influential.
I think it is important for the NBA to let the players speak out fo themselves. The NFL could learn from the NBA because the NBA I think does a pretty good job not only as an orginization but as a community and they dont have very many problems, but there are still a few fights about wanting equality and speaking out.
I agree with your thinking. The NBA doesn't have very many problems as a whole, and I think this theme of being unproblematic is spread throughout a lot of the organization. Obviously there are a few problems, but overall they are a stable organization. Also, they are rising in popularity.
I do think it's important for the NBA to let them speak out and freely express themselces. I think the NFL could learn from the NBA as they are very good organization and usually doesn't have many problems. But they have the right to speak out, and wanting equality.
I agree. The NBA and the NFL both have players of many different origins, so they will alll have different opinions and morals. They should have the oppurtunity to speak out about them as they see fit.
I think that it is very important to let athletes express their thoughts freely. In America, we have the freedom to voice ourselves. Although I understand that some find it rude considering most athletes live in America, I think that punishing players for kneeling or voicing their opinion is taking away from their freedom. I do also understand why some would find it disrespectful to America and the soldiers who fight for our country.
I see your point. A main problem that keeps athletes from speaking out is the unpredictablness of the fans. Not all of them will support the athlete's veiws, and they tend to criticize the players who voice their opinion. HOwever, the NBA, I'm sure, has that problem too, I think they just handle it a bit differently.
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