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The NBA officially returned on Thursday night and something pretty awesome happened before the start of the first game back – everyone on the court before the Utah Jazz-New Orleans Pelicans game took a knee during the anthem.
Then later in the evening everyone did it again before the Lakers-Clippers game.
And that, right there, was the first big win of the restart to a season that came to a halt back in March.
Now I know there is a large contingent of angry people right now who are yelling at the clouds about how they’ll never watch a game again, how the NBA lost a lifelong fan, and how they don’t want “politics” mixed in with their sports.
And to them, I say at the top of my lungs for all those in the back to hear: SO LONG!
Seriously, though, it’s really too bad that so many people are tuning out of sports because they can’t handle the peaceful protests that are going on. They can’t stomach seeing people standing up for something that we should all be in agreement on and fighting for. They don’t like seeing millionaires make impactful statements for those who might not have the platforms to be heard.
I mean, how isn’t everyone inspired by what the players and coaches did on Thursday night? How could anyone get mad about witnessing that?
I put “politics” in quotes above because these peaceful anthem protests aren’t about politics, they’re about human rights and equality, which aren’t political issues at all.
I don’t know how there are still people out there who don’t understand that and don’t understand that kneeling for the anthem has nothing to do with disrespecting the flag, or the military, or our country. It has very clearly never been about any of that, rather it has been about what makes our country great – having the right to speak out against injustices that are still very clearly and sadly a part of our world in 2020.
So yeah, seeing everyone on the court take a knee for the anthem was… beautiful and I can’t wait for more moments like that.
Now that all those other “fans” are gone, did you guys see that alley-oop that Lonzo Ball threw Zion Williamson from nearly half-court? Man, that was awesome. And then later Zion threw an around-the-back pass to Lonzo that was pretty sweet, too.
And then LeBron James did LeBron James in the final minute of the nightcap to put a stamp on what was a tremendous night of basketball. He also had a powerful interview moments after the game.
The NBA is back and it feels like we’re going to get to see an incredible few months to close out what has been a season unlike any other.
And I can’t wait to watch all of it.
The sleeper NBA team that no one will want to face is…
The Portland Trail Blazers, according to my pal Charles Curtis who broke down seven reasons why Damian Lillard and Co. could be the biggest surprise down the stretch of this wild season.
Quick hits: Barkley roasted Shaq for being late… DeChambeau failed to get a ridiculous ruling… McCuthen’s perfect tweet.
– Things felt even more normal Thursday night when Charles Barkley was roasting Shaq on Inside the NBA on TNT. It’s great to have that crew back.
– Bryson DeChambeau had another silly moment on Thursday when he tried to gain an advantage due to having some fire ants near his ball. A PGA Tour official wouldn’t allow it to happen, though, much to the chagrin of DeChambeau who would go on to get a double bogey on the hole.
– Andrew McCutchen perfectly described the Phillies’ shutdown in one tweet.
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