Even after the Orlando bubble restart had been initially planned and approved by the league, the NBA experienced some justifiable resistance from its players. In general, the players worried that the return of basketball would distract from the progress so many had been working towards with respect to Black Lives Matter, the fight against police brutality, and social justice.
In an effort to meet the players halfway, the league agreed to allow different expressions of support for the various movements, including temporarily replacing the names on the back of their jerseys with a list of approved phrases.
According to ESPN, players were recently made aware of the list of approved social messages, and here’s where they landed per the report:
• Black Lives Matter
• Say Their Names
• Vote
• I Can’t Breathe
• Justice
• Peace
• Equality
• Freedom
• Enough
• Power to the People
• Justice Now
• Say Her Name
• Sí Se Puede (Yes We Can)
• Liberation
• See Us
• Hear Us
• Respect Us
• Love Us
• Listen
• Listen to Us
• Stand Up
• Ally
• Anti-Racist
• I Am A Man
• Speak Up
• How Many More
• Group Economics
• Education Reform
• Mentor
The players decided not to use the names of those who’ve died in police custody for concern of offending those whose names were not used (as well as some logistical issues).
In any case, for the first four days of the restart, players can replace the name on the back of their jersey with any of the approved messages above. After that, they can keep the message, but their names will appear below the message. No one will be forced to use a message.
I think is a decidedly great idea and I hope other sports leagues effort to be as forward-thinking and supportive of their players.