When basketball resumes, NBA players will be allowed to replace the last name on their jerseys with a statement on social justice, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.
The NBPA provided players with the initial details of this plan on Saturday night, Charania reported, as the latest step in discussions between the NBA and players union regarding various ways players can advocate for social justice during the season restart.
Earlier this month, Kyrie Irving led a players-only conference call centred on unity, systemic racism and investing in communities with over 80 basketball players from the NBA and WNBA, according to multiple reports, which sparked broader conversations over how the NBA’s return-to-play plan may impact the current racial justice movement across the United States.
Since then, commissioner Adam Silver and players union head Michele Roberts have spoken about the importance of finding a way for the NBA’s return to help advance the conversation surrounding racial injustice, not subtract from it.
That desire was evidenced in the NBA’s return-to-play plan itself, which read in part that “the goal of the season restart will be to find tangible and sustainable ways to address racial inequality across the country.”
Currently the NBA’s plan is to resume its season, which was suspended in mid-March due to the novel coronavirus, on July 30.
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