NBA commissioner Adam Silver has passed his judgement on whether NBA Players will be allowed to kneel during the NBA restart in Orlando.
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The social issues in America has embroiled the entire league with players taking a stand against racism prevalent in the society. One of the major issues has been about kneeling during the national anthem. Now, NBA players from the Utah Jazz and New Orleans Pelicans have decided to kneel during the national anthem before they tip-off the league on July 30.
Adam Silver has reacted to the news and stated that he has no issues with non-violent protests across the league against widespread racism.
Adam Silver approves non-violent protests against racism
The NBA athletes have massive popularity across the league. Hence, their decision to take a knee before the game will be a strong message to the protests against racism. NBA superstars like LeBron James, Steph Curry, Kyrie Irving have been pretty vocal about bringing changes in the society.
On Pelicans and Jazz players and coaches and their expected plans to kneel in solidarity around the BLACK LIVES MATTER floor lettering during Thursday night’s national anthem, NBA commissioner Adam Silver told @GMA this morning: “I respect peaceful protest.”
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— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) July 29, 2020
The players are in a discussion about taking a knee as commissioner Adam Silver did not specify whether the move would result in fining the players. The players have remained united in their fight against racism. The NBA has been pretty vocal about supporting the cause. The league even painted the floors with the “Black Lives Matter” phrase.
It will be interesting to see if NBA actually goes ahead and fines players, as that would send out a wrong message as far as African American community is concerned.
On one hand where the NBA is supporting BLM with signs on the court and allowing players to promote social messages, a step against kneeling would be a massive contradiction. In the past, the NFL has been bombarded with ‘hate’ and ‘love’ messages for not supporting players kneeling during the national anthem.
A few fans feel that kneeling during the national anthem is a disrespect to the country and hence should not be done, but the idea is not disrespecting the country but to raise awareness against the BLM movement.
The full quote from NBA commissioner Adam Silver to @RobinRoberts on @GMA:
“I respect peaceful protest. I’m not sure what our players will do when they come out tomorrow night and we’ll of course address it at the time, but I also understand these are highly unusual times.”
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) July 29, 2020
Related: NBA Commissioner Adam Silver Salary: How much does Silver earn in a year?
What’s next for the league?
The NBA’s decision to resume the league in the Orlando bubble has been a resounding success so far. NBA head honcho Adam Silver must be praised for turning the proposal into reality after polarizing takes on the idea. The league will hope that the on-court drama will take over the off-court issues from July 30.
Meanwhile, Los Angeles Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks lead the west and the east respectively. The Clippers, Bucks and Lakers are the top-favorites to win the title with the Raptors and the Celtics considered the dark-horses this season.
The league phase resumes on July 30 with the Jazz taking on the Pelicans and the Lakers taking on the Clippers later in the day.
Read more: Lakers News: Key takeaways from Lakers’ Scrimmage games, heading into NBA Bubble restart
