At least 80 members of the National Basketball Player’s Association hopped on a call Friday night that was organized by NBPA Executive Vice President Kyrie Irving in which players discussed the merits of returning to play and going to the Walt Disney World at all.
According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, the primary concern from Irving and other players in the current environment of social unrest is being a distraction to the movements happening in the streets. But one of the notable absences on the call was LeBron James, who has been a voice for finishing the season. James has also been a voice throughout the weeks, and in recent years, in speaking up on racial injustice. And he believes that the work will not stop when the games begin, according to The Athletic’s Sam Amick.
Because sources say James, whose Lakers have as good a chance at the title as any of the 22 teams invited to Walt Disney World, believes playing in Orlando won’t deter his ability to continue inspiring change.
He wants to keep making his mark off the court. He wants to play basketball. And as has always been the case, he clearly believes he can do both at the same time.
LeBron has often been of the opinion that the platform he has is because of his performance. While we can commend LeBron for being able to be of both minds, it is worthing noting that several players have concerns, including two of his teammates who were on the call, Avery Bradley and Dwight Howard. Howard, it should be noted, lost the mother of his children to the coronavirus.
The NBA’s path to playing is slightly more complicated than it was a week ago, but given the changes from last week to this one, we may be in a very different place a week from now. All the while, the NBA is telling teams about when to call players back to their markets and the machinations towards a return to play seem to already be underway. Nevertheless, Irving’s reservations have given everybody pause and think about where all of it is going. After weeks of non-stop progress on a return to play, a stop and wait moment is more than appropriate.
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