• NBA.Why do you stand up to racism?
  • Racism: The Other Historic Strikes

On Wednesday night there were NBA stars ready to cancel the season. Among them the Los Angeles Lakers, with LeBron James at the helm, and the Los Angeles Clippers, two of the great candidates for the title. The strike was the product of a frustration that had been brewing for days and accelerated with the events in Wisconsin. According to ESPN, Michael Jordan, owner of the Charlotte Hornets and responsible for relations between the management and the players, was key to prevent the situation from spilling over.

Jordan was the bridge that united the two 'sides', that of the players, who demanded more involvement in the fight for social justice, and that of the owners, who this Thursday met to discuss how far they were willing to go. Prior to that meeting, Jordan spoke to union president Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook to come up with a position to bring to the table.

The owners demanded to go ahead for two reasons: because they understand that the league is the best platform to amplify the voices of the players and coaches, but also because canceling the course would mean multimillion-dollar losses . In return, and Jordan was key there, they had to become more involved in the fight against systemic racism that still plagues the United States.

Before passing the Orlando bubble, the team owners pledged to donate $ 300 million over 10 years to create economic opportunities for the black community. However, the feeling among players was that, beyond that money (each franchise, valued at more than 2 billion, will donate a million a year for a decade), the involvement of the managers was little.

The only black one

That was the message that Michael Jordan conveyed to the owners and that paved the way for the meeting between the two parties in the afternoon. Jordan was there again, the only former player who is today the majority shareholder of a franchise, but also the only black one. "I'm on this call not as an owner, not as a former player, but as a black man," he said, according to NBA TV.

That position, so logical, would have been unimaginable during his playing career, and fuels Michael Jordan's growing involvement in social causes. Days after the murder of George Floyd at the hands of the police, Jordan Brand announced that he would donate 100 million dollars in a decade to combat the suppression of the vote, a problem that affects mainly minorities.

Unthinkable for that player Jordan who kept his donations private for fear that someone would politicize them. More important than making social causes visible was avoiding any problem splashing on the brands that paid him, or on his image, which was his own brand.

After all, Jordan was OJ Simpson's top student , the first big star to understand that he could make a lot of money if he put politics or race aside. And a trail that, except for very few cases, North American sport continued until it woke up in the last decade.

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Know more

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