Former first lady Michelle Obama joined a call with some NBA and WNBA players on Sunday to discuss the importance of voting and using their platform to encourage others to do so.
Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Chris Paul talked about the conversation during a Zoom call with media Monday.
“The more we encourage each other to vote, not just every four years, but two years in your local election and things like that,” Paul said. “The more we do that, the more our voice can really be heard.”
Being in the bubble allows players more opportunities to talk to new peers about avenues to make societal differences.
“Coming down here, what we have the opportunity to do is use our collective voices, obviously to spread a message, but we also get a chance to educate each other,” Paul said.
“Guys come to a meeting to discuss things, and two guys who never had a relationship figure out that they have a common interest in whatever it may be — whether it’s finance literacy, whether it is police reform, whether it’s education, whether it’s HBCUs, guys can start to build together. That’s what we’ve been talking about. We need to unite, become a uniting force in a lot of this action that’s going on.”
That “uniting force” is starting to expand and become a joint effort between the two basketball leagues.
Paul, the president of the National Basketball Players Association, said tthis was the first time in his career the NBA and WNBA had participated in a call of this nature together.
“I think that’s very important that we’re doing this together,” he said Sunday after the scrimmage. “Not just the NBA players, not just the WNBA players, but we’re doing it together and that way we can hear each other. We can share stories and know each others’ feelings.
He said he didn’t know how many players took part in the call, but said the players who took part appreciated having Obama on it with them.
“She’s already captivating in how she carries herself as a former first lady, and our forever first lady,” Paul said. “Her presence is captivating but her words, and what she said yesterday and how inspirational she was.”
Paul told USA TODAY that the players have agreed to put $300 million toward social justice issues.
“The jerseys are part of it, but we know that we need the money and the funding to really make change,” he said Friday.
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