Member-only story
The NBA Bubble Was Never the Players’ Platform to Fight Systemic Racism
Corporate activism feels warm, fuzzy, and progressive, but optics aren’t the same as real change
Update 6/7/22: Level has a new home. You can read this article and other new articles by visiting LEVELMAN.com.
Reality pierced the NBA bubble when the buzzer sounded ahead of last week’s playoff game between the Milwaukee Bucks and Orlando Magic — and neither team was present on the court. The continuation of the punctuated 2019–20 season had been heavy with “social justice” messaging amid a summer of global protests following more police killings of Black men and women. But after an officer in Kenosha, Wisconsin, shot Jacob Blake seven times in the back in front of his children, the Bucks’ refusal to take the court triggered a work stoppage that brought the NBA playoffs to a halt. Less than 24 hours later, however, players were back on board with resuming the season for the second time. So much for revolution.
The restarted NBA season, which kicked off in late July, has been positioned as a different kind of campaign from the start: a tournament with a goal greater than a championship. Players demanded that the season be used as a vehicle to address the systemic racism that sparked the summer’s protests. The…
