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New Orleans Pelicans rookie Nickeil Alexander-Walker will wear “Vote” on the back of his jersey during the season restart this month at the Walt Disney World Resort.
The NBA and NBPA agreed in principle that the goal of the season restart would be to find tangible and sustainable ways to address racial inequality across the country. As a result, the league will allow players to inscribe a phrase or message on the back of their jerseys in place of their names to help raise awareness for a social cause or movement.
Players across the NBA have helped raise awareness for several different social causes and movements. Philadelphia 76ers rookie Matisse Thybulle will also wear “Vote” on his jersey while Miami Heat guards Tyler Herro and Kendrick Nunn will each don “Black Lives Matter” on the back of their jerseys.
Alexander-Walker encouraged everyone to vote on Sunday night when speaking to the media on a conference call following practice at the Wide World of Sports Complex.
I feel like it’s very important. Somebody said to me and it kind of resonated with me that the way things change is through voting. Riots broke out and people were trying to express themselves in different ways but if we want to see change, we should probably vote. There were some interesting statistics that given to me about voting when Barack [Obama] was president and then after his presidency until now the numbers were down. I think it’s important that everyone votes.
While the NBA and NBPA discuss ways to create change in the future, players have banded together in the immediate short term to continue to use their platforms to raise awareness on social justice issues and racism worldwide.
The Pelicans will begin the season restart July 30 vs. the Utah Jazz.
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