The NBA is moving forward on an idea to promote social justice by letting players replace the last name on their jersey with a social cause.
This news would normally be another feather in the cap for those who complain about politics in sports, but it should be welcomed as an opportunity for NBA players to take a stand on the world’s biggest issue — China’s dictatorship, its suppression of democratic institutions in Hong Kong, its threats of global war in the Pacific, and its mass imprisonment of Muslims in Xinjiang.
It’s no secret that the NBA prides itself on being a “woke” league. Chances are if this new policy upsets you, you probably already stopped regularly watching the NBA in the last few years. This will just extend to the court what NBA players have already brought into their locker room interviews and pregame warmups. This won’t change the politicization of the NBA, but it offers an opportunity for players to take a stand outside their (or their fans’) comfort zone. Spencer Dinwiddie of the Brooklyn Nets has said he plans to make his jersey about the national debt.
A lot of issues at the moment. I think the fact that the country is 26 (ironically) Trillion dollars in debt is high on the list
— Spencer Dinwiddie (@SDinwiddie_25) June 29, 2020
At least one NBA player has taken a stand against an authoritarian government before. Enes Kanter of the Boston Celtics has been a target of the Turkish government since speaking out against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Kanter’s family in Turkey had to disown him publicly in 2016, and he’s called Erdogan the “Hitler of our time.”
The NBA is popular in Turkey, but it’s nowhere near the level of the NBA in China. The NBA and China have a multibillion-dollar partnership, including everything from media rights and streaming to merchandise and actual preseason games being played in that country. The NBA’s willingness to ignore China’s human rights abuses under the influence of its cash has tainted any appearance by NBA players and coaches to paint themselves as noble and just in speaking out on political issues.
China proves that they aren’t really committed to social or any other sort of justice — they just recognize the value of backing trendy causes.
When Kanter played in the Western Conference Finals last year with the Portland Trailblazers, the broadcast was blocked in Turkey. With the NBA having a lot of money invested in access to China by a notoriously thin-skinned communist party regime, the NBA has done its best to keep its mouth shut on China’s atrocious human rights record. Even when figures all across the NBA tripped over themselves to grovel at the feet of the CCP over Daryl Morey’s pro-Hong Kong tweet (including, after his reeducation, Morey himself), Chinese businesses terminated their partnerships with the league.
This is the NBA’s chance to right its egregious wrong, with no one expecting anything better from them. All it takes is one player with a “Free Hong Kong” or “Uighurs” jersey and a little bit of backbone.
Or the entire league can promote easy, uncontroversial causes we already know they support — because when it comes to China, the league has so far decided to just shut up and dribble.
