Kyrie Irving made comments over the weekend, suggesting the NBA cancel its season instance of Black Lives Matter.
NBA fans got excited when the announcement of the season starting back up came out. However, some players are saying the season shouldn’t start at all, because the focus should be on black people.
When word got out that Kyrie Irving was one of the hundreds of players who in opposition to starting the season, he became fan enemy number one. According to reports, a player organized call took place in which Irving and others expressed concerns about starting the season.
In addition to Coronavirus still being a threat, players are concerned that an NBA season would take away from media coverage on social justice protest. Irving even allegedly told players, “I’m not with the systematic racism and the bullsh**t; something smells a little fishy.”
Kyrie Irving told NBA players on call Friday, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium: "I don’t support going into Orlando. I’m not with the systematic racism and the bullshit. Something smells a little fishy."
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 13, 2020
Other players like Dwight Howard have come out in support of Irving’s comments.
Dwight Howard statement, provided by his agent, to CNN: pic.twitter.com/sk9uSSHlpp
— Jill Martin (@ByJillMartin) June 14, 2020
The biggest name in basketball and maybe its most prominent activist, Lebron James, is on the other side of the fence.
James, who has social status and recognition, has never let the court stop him from using his platform. As this week got started, famous sports commentators began picking which side of the argument they are own.
In a not so surprising way, both the white commentators on the two most popular sports show agreed with Irving. Both Max Kellerman and Skip Bayless are known to articulate an understanding of the plight of black people in America.
It is not uncommon for twitter feeds to show that most black viewers’ opinions are more in line with Kellerman than his partner Stephen A Smith. While Shannon Sharpe is a lot more liked then Smith, Skip is cool and seems to know what it is.
Both Max Kellerman and Skip Bayless spoke on the fact that they agree with Kyrie, but that he should choose another way. Of course, the way, the admittedly biased sports commentators involves the NBA resuming. Yet both men took the affirmative on paper but argued the negative in reality.
During their segments, both Skip Bayless and Max Kellerman acknowledged the hypocrisy of their opinions. They each expressed that Irving’s idea, yet while radical, maybe the only way to achieve change. Max even made that point that a move with so many financial ramifications would call for massive action.
However, instead of standing with black people with action and sacrificeOur white counterparts continue to “support” from the comfort of their privilege, never willing to sacrifice basic comforts for our fundamental rights. They will scream “BLACK LIVES MATTER” until they are blue in the face, just as long as your protest is over before the Lakers come on.
