Some players, including Brooklyn’s Kyrie Irving and Los Angeles Lakers guard Avery Bradley, have discussed the possibility of boycotting the restart of the 2019-20 NBA season. “I never wanted to be put in a box on the court (as a pure point guard) or off the court (as being recognized solely as an athlete),” Thomas says. “So when I look at players today, I say they are sons and daughters, they are mothers and fathers, they are citizens, and then they are athletes. So they have multitudes. We can be citizens and we can also be athletes, and you don’t have to be one or the other. You can be both and there’s a movement that’s going on in this country. What society has said is that systemic racism at all levels is bigger than sports. It’s bigger than the game. Because right now it’s about getting America right. And our sports personalities are speaking to getting America right. These are the young people right now that truly have a chance to change the world forever.”