NBA Season Part 2: Life In The Orlando Bubble

Some highlights from leaking info I guess

 

From ESPN today:
Avery Bradley: Coalition wants NBA's plan for black causes before restart

• Los Angeles Lakers guard Avery Bradley -- a co-leader of a players coalition with Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving -- says his group is eager to hear the league office, ownership and sponsors detail a plan on issues of importance to the black community before the NBA's restart in Orlando, Florida.
  
  Bradley and the players coalition described several priorities Tuesday to ESPN, including improved hiring practices for black front-office and head-coaching candidates -- making it so the league's management better reflects its composition of players; donations to organizations serving black communities; and partnerships with black-owned businesses and arena vendors.
  
  Bradley expressed support for NBA players wanting to use platforms in Orlando to speak on issues of systemic racism, but said his group believes those efforts would have greater impact with "our owners' help."
  
  "Regardless of how much media coverage will be received, talking and raising awareness about social injustice isn't enough," Bradley told ESPN. "Are we that self-centered to believe no one in the world is aware of racism right now? That, as athletes, we solve the real issues by using our platforms to speak?
  
  
  Bucks' Korver seeks change more than NBA title
• 
  Silver confident return concerns will be addressed
• 
  New NBA coalition voicing concerns of players

"We don't need to say more. We need to find a way to achieve more. Protesting during an anthem, wearing T-shirts is great, but we need to see real actions being put in to the works."

The NBA and National Basketball Players Association have talked about how they will address these issues together, but definitive plans are still forthcoming.

The burden of financial donations to black communities disproportionately falls onto players, Bradley said, adding that he hopes more owners will follow the charitable lead of Dallas' Mark Cuban and Charlotte's Michael Jordan in the aftermath of George Floyd's death last month.

"I agree (the) Orlando (restart) will give the players checks to contribute back into their communities," Bradley said. "But how much of that bubble check are players actually able to contribute? Why (is) all of the responsibility being put on the players?"

This had been part of Bradley's thinking when he helped organize a Lakers-wide social media post two weeks ago: "If you ain't wit us, we ain't wit you."

The message was intended "for all those who have more financial power than us, but aren't taking a bigger stance when our community needs you," Bradley said.

The coalition, Bradley said, wants to see an increase in black executives among the ranks of top basketball decision-makers. The NBA has eight black general managers, but only four with final authority on basketball decisions. The NBA has seven black head coaches. Toronto's Masai Ujiri has the title of president and full authority on basketball.

"The actual act of sitting out doesn't directly fight systemic racism," Bradley said. "But it does highlight the reality that without black athletes, the NBA wouldn't be what it is today. The league has a responsibility to our communities in helping to empower us -- just as we have made the NBA brand strong."

Bradley said that if the NBA does have plans to organize league-wide action, those proposals haven't been clearly communicated to players.

"Don't put all of the weight on your player to take care of the issue," Bradley said. "If you care about us, you can't remain silent and in the background."

The players coalition began to take shape over the weekend amid concerns surrounding the league's return to play after a three-month shutdown amid the coronavirus pandemic. The group includes WNBA players.

Irving and Bradley are two of a number of veteran players who have taken on expanded roles in organizing player conference calls over the past week. The group believes it has a responsibility to explore solutions for fellow players who are reluctant to speak for themselves amid fears of backlash.

 

What exactly do they want? This seems like a pretty unorganized call to action.

League: What do you want?

Bradley: Change

League: What sort of change?

Bradley: The changey kind.

If they choose not to play, they will be out of sight which means they will be out of mind. I think they may be overestimating their influence on our collective consciousness. Nobody really thinks about these guys outside of a basketball setting. That's just human nature. You associate people with the thing you know them for. I think about a lot of my coworkers only as it pertains to work. When I'm not at work, I don't think about them. If you remove basketball, we won't think about these guys. If we're not thinking about them, what good is the protest?

 

That's still not exact, nor is it something the league can just easily implement. Are they supposed to start hiring people simply because they are black? Are they going to hire vendors simply because they are black and not based on who is best suited to handle the needs of the NBA? And they want them just to donate to charities? So they're telling someone else how to donate their money? These things are not something to be holding up the league over when they are extremely complex issues that were made to sound more like a wish list they thought of on the spot. "Wouldn't it be cool if most of the coaches were black and most of the vendors were black?" These suggestions are not as black and white (no pun intended) as they make it out to be. That's what I mean by being the changey kind. It's like someone saying we need universal basic income. How do we pay for it? Tax rich people! Yeah. How rich do you think they are in comparison to 350,000,000 million people getting an amount of money that would be significant?

I do agree with you that this should have been handled as a league through the Player's Association. Kyrie accusing the NBA of all leagues of being complicit in racism...like I said, they are the one league that is on the right side of these issues most of the time.

 

I like this:
Lakers Hire Dr. Karida Brown As Director Of Racial Equity & Action

• 2 minute read

Share
Tweet

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
UP NEXT


Lakers Make Juneteenth A Recognized Holiday For Staff; Sending iPads To Various Organizations
Published on06/19/2020
AUTHOR
Maximo Gonzales


The Los Angeles Lakers announced the hiring of Dr. Karida Brown as the Director of Racial Equity & Action to help the team in their efforts to promote change within the community.

Brown is an assistant professor of African American Studies and Sociology at UCLA and also serves on the boards of The Obama Presidency Oral History Project and the Du Boisian Scholar Network.

Brown has a master’s and a doctorate in sociology from Brown University and a master’s in government administration from the University of Pennsylvania.

In addition to her status as a Fulbright Scholar, she has also written two books detailing instances of racial injustice in the United States and is currently working on a third book titled “Separate and Unequal,” that will center on the history of segregated school systems and the impact it continues to have today.

It is safe to say that Brown is well-equipped to provide the Lakers with a sense of direction when it comes to tackling the issues of systemic racism. As a result, she will be taking on an integral role within the franchise in order to help it come to fruition.

“We are very happy to have Dr. Brown join the team,” Lakers COO & president of business operations Tim Harris said.

“She will play a key role in implementing educational programming on race and racism for our employees and helping us focus on racial equity in our day-to-day functions, as well as empowering the organization to identify ways to be more active participants in affecting real change.”

Lakers teammates active in seeking change
Avery Bradley and Dwight Howard have played a central role in voicing the concerns over restarting the 2019-20 NBA season amid the efforts beingmade to combat racial injustice and usher in police reform. They are hoping players and owners alike will continue to put an emphasis on the real issues at hand in order to spark true change.

Danny Green recently joined peaceful protestors in downtown L.A., and LeBron James is spearheading a voting rights organization that is focused on using the voices of professional athletes and entertainers to combat voter suppression and support African-American voters in their communities.

Among the notable topics Bradley has touched on is his desire for the league to improve the representation in front offices to better reflect that of the players. Fortunately, the Lakers have since put the onus on themselves to answer the call by doing just that with the hiring of Brown.

Have you subscribed to our YouTube channel? It’s the best way to watch player interviews, exclusive coverage from events, participate in live shows, and more!

 

Honestly, California is the biggest area of pandemic growth in the US right now, unfortunately for those of us who live here. 3,700 plus new cases yesterday, largest single day total for the state thus far. We have almost double the number of cases of Florida. The problem for Florida though is they are starting to overwhelm their hospitals whereas we are not.

Even with everything - some of the players wanting to sit out due to possible distraction from social issues in their opinion, and more cases coming up in Florida, I still think we are going to have basketball return.