When the National Basketball Players Association approved the NBA’s plan last Friday to resume the 2019/20 season in Orlando, only the union’s executive committee and individual team representatives participated in that vote.
That hasn’t sat well with a number of players around the NBA, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, who hears from sources that a “significant” number of players are disappointed that not everyone was given the opportunity to vote on the matter.
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There’s a sense that many players’ voices weren’t heard on what could be a “life-changing” decision, sources tell Yahoo Sports. Some agents have encouraged their clients to speak up and to talk to the NBPA about pushing for a more collaborative system, Haynes adds.
According to Haynes, some players have been reluctant to express their opinions because most of the league’s superstars are “adamant” about finishing the season if the NBA institutes adequate safety protocols. Haynes notes that a faction of players remain uncertain about the resumption of the season due to the lack of information available about those coronavirus-related health and safety protocols, which are still being negotiated.
Interestingly, as ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and analyst Matt Barnes have alluded to, a number of players are also taking into account the recent social justice protests following the death of George Floyd as they weigh their options. According to Haynes, some players believe the optics of a predominantly black league resuming play in a bubble to “entertain the masses” and to salvage TV deals aren’t great.
“What message are we sending by agreeing to this during this time?” one player said to Haynes. “We’re out here marching and protesting, and yet we all leave our families in these scary times and gather to perform at a place where the owners won’t be at? What type of sense does that make? We’ll be going backwards. That place isn’t that magical.”
Conversely, Nets guard and NBPA vice president Garrett Temple told Malika Andrews of ESPN that he thinks playing games – and earning pay checks – is an effective way of combating the systemic oppression of black people.
“The difference in the economic gap between white America and black America is astronomical,” Temple said. “I can’t in good conscience tell my brethren to throw away millions of dollars in order to create change that I don’t see the direct impact of — if there was a direct impact of laws changing, that would be a different story.”
Appearing on J.J. Redick‘s podcast (video link), Pacers guard Malcolm Brogdon, another NBPA VP, acknowledged both sides of that issue.
“(Some) guys are going to say, ‘The black community and my people are going through too much for me to basically be distracted with basketball, I’m not going to prioritize this over the black community, I’m going to sit out,” Brogdon said. “”And then there’s another group of guys – and these are all black perspectives – who are going to say, ‘No, this is the most amount of money I’m going to make in my lifetime. It doesn’t make sense to hand this money back. I can do so much good in my community if I have this money.’
“… My thing is, if you’re going to sit out, you have to have demands. You have to have policies that you want to see change,” Brogdon continued. “There has to be something very organized and strategized to go into that.”
Marc Stein of The New York Times (Twitter link) reported earlier today that the NBA and NBPA are still working through the health and safety protocols for the resumed season. Once those protocols are in place, players with safety concerns should have more information to make informed decisions. However, the social-justice concerns that players have may require further discussions between the league and union.