MLK Day is much more than a game day to Kanter, Williams

Dr. Martin Luther King’s legacy lives on in the work of Celtics Grant Williams and Enes Kanter in much more than a game held to celebrate him.

Any time the Boston Celtics take on the Los Angeles Lakers, it tends to be a momentous occasion, but the man behind the holiday their next meeting takes place on was a giant among men in ways that make even Anthony Davis look small in comparison.

It was for this reason that Rookie Wire’s Cody Taylor reached out to Boston’s Grant Williams and Enes Kanter to talk about the impact of the Reverend Dr.Martin Luther King ahead of the team’s MLK Day showdown with the Lakers.

Part of a massive slate of games featuring all but two of the league’s teams, the legacy of Dr. King continues to touch the lives of a professional sports league made up of nearly 75% African-American players. But it’s not only such players revering his work on this day, as noted Kanter.

“MLK Day is the birthplace of civil rights activism,” Kanter offered. “He fought against racism and discrimination to try to get equal rights for African Americans. MLK Day honors his memory so I think it’s important to play on that day and it is an honor.”

Kanter has long been an especially ardent supporter of human rights both in the U.S. and abroad, so it makes sense the Turkish big man would hold the radical civil rights activist and organizer in high regard.

His own work fighting for the civil rights of political dissidents in his native Turkey all the way to his educational initiative planned in Oklahoma City all bear the mark of Dr. King’s work.

Now-deceased Commissioner Emeritus David Stern long pushed the league to honor King with the slate of games on the day honoring his work, particularly in Memphis, the city in which he would be assassinated for having the temerity to fight for the rights of others.

Basketball’s ability to act as a transcendent force cross-cutting disparate aspects of society has positioned it to be at the forefront of the four major North American sports leagues when it comes to issues like racial equality and social justice,a point emphasized by Williams.

“It shows how the NBA truly tries to break a divide,” Williams explained.

“You look at basketball as a sport and it connects people from different cultures, backgrounds, financial statuses and it puts them all in one and allows them to enjoy each other,” he continued.

“When I was younger, I used to look up to people in the NBA, NFL and I would always say, ‘’f I ever got to that point, I would give back,'” added the Tennessee product, and he has made good on that promise, becoming involved with an mentorship program called “Becoming a Man“.

Created to help young men reduce engagement with self-destructive behavior, Williams has used his platform to amplify their work in order to help … “give power to these young black males who are going through some of the same issues that I had growing up, but different guidance to give them that step ahead that can make them better.”

“I always told them just to be themselves, not to focus on outside surroundings. If you can affect one life, you can affect many just by that one you affected that day,” said Williams.

Kanter has also volunteered time with similar programs, such as the Playbook Initiative, part of the Shamrock Foundation developed by the 2016-17 Celtics roster to inspire “a dialogue on race, religion, gender, disability and sexual orientation and ultimately equips kids with the tools to intervene in challenging social situations”.

The Celtics center held the initiative in high regard, noting it “was probably one of the best events I have done in my nine years in the NBA.

“We talk[ed] about some real stuff: — racism, sexism, equality … for me, that was so important because it taught the kids that it doesn’t matter what your background is, it doesn’t matter what your skin color is, we need to leave our differences on the table and try to find what we have in common.”

The Celtics have a long history of civic engagement on contentious topics like race in a city with a bad reputation on such issues, so Williams and Kanter (and, for that matter, teammate Jaylen Brown) fit the mold going all the way back to some of the earliest players to take an interest in race relations while wearing green and white.

Celtics legend Bill Russell was a friend to and supporter of Dr. King during the height of the civil rights era, and this new generation of engaged Celtics are building on the legacy he and his teammates helped create over a half-century later.

“We’re given this platform to affect change and help the next generation see the blueprint we’re trying to have in store for the future. So, anything that we can do now, it can help us 30 years down the line,” offered Williams.

“I would love for my children to see that.”