Utah Jazz and New Orleans Pelicans players and coaches and referees for the game reopening the NBA season on Thursday dropped to one knee during the American anthem, in protest against racial injustices. In recent days, the players of the 22 teams qualified for this eagerly awaited resumption of the championship, interrupted for more than four months because of the coronavirus, have come together to act in unison.
Messages on the jerseys
On the floor of the HP Field House, one of the three halls of the huge ESPN World Wide of Sports complex where the matches will take place behind closed doors until mid-October, the main actors of this Jazz-Pelicans have all gathered on along the sideline. They wore the same black sweatshirt with "Black Lives Matter" written on it, words also painted on the floor above the NBA logo. In the evening, the Los Angeles derby between the Lakers of LeBron James and the Clippers of Kawhi Leonard was preceded by the same strong gestures.
As the national anthem plays, the Pelicans and Jazz kneel around the “Black Lives Matter” signage on the court.
Here's @MarcJSpears and my story on the fight for social justice in the “bubble”: https://t.co/stN80wli60pic.twitter.com/IZNOSANsSx
After kneeling, the players started the game and each replaced, as the league has allowed, their name with a message on their jersey. Young New Orleans star Zion Richardson chose the word “Peace”, Utah full-back Mike Conley chose “I'm a Man” and Frenchman Rudy Gobert, who scored the very first basket of the match, for "Equality".
Some additional social justice messages chosen by NBA players to wear on the backs of their jerseys.
Rudy Gobert (Jazz) - "Equality"
CJ McCollum (Trailblazers) - "Education Reform"
Jusuf Nurkic (Trailblazers) - "Equality"
(per @ChrisBHaynes, @NBAonTNT) pic.twitter.com/N1xv9OjqPi
No penalties for kneeling players
Acknowledging "a unique moment in our history" on CNN earlier Thursday, NBA boss Adam Silver decided that no penalties would be imposed for the kneeling. "I respect the unified act of peaceful protest of our teams for social justice and, in these unique circumstances, I will not apply our old rule requiring us to stand up during our national anthem," he then said. stated in a statement.
Over the past two months, the United States has witnessed numerous protests against racial injustice and police brutality following the death of George Floyd. Since then, kneeling on the ground has become a symbol of protest adopted by demonstrators, including many professional athletes. This gesture was made for the first time by former American football player Colin Kaepernick in 2016, who collected insults from Donald Trump and was blacklisted in the NFL.