Part of the NBA’s plan for its restart at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, was to help continue the fight for social justice and racial equality that is extremely important to the players in the league.
Obviously, the majority of NBA players are African-American, but numerous white players have been outspoken as well. Los Angeles Lakers guard Alex Caruso has been part of that group pushing to eliminate racial inequality.
The NBA has a list of approved messages that players will be allowed to wear on the back of their jerseys instead of their last name if they choose to do so. Many have decided to do exactly that, with Caruso opting for “Black Lives Matter” after evaluating the options.
“I went through the ones that I thought would be important to me and impactful to wear,” he said. “I thought about the people that look up to me, the people that watch me play and the people that tell me on Instagram, Twitter, random spots in L.A. or back home, that they look up to me and I’m an inspiration to them with where I’ve gotten and the way I play. A lot of those things went into. ‘Black Lives Matter’ seemed to be the one that just struck a chord with me and I thought would be the most impactful.
“Especially in the current times, but overall, spoke up about it earlier is something I wish I would’ve done. Obviously we all get caught up in our own lives and we forget what’s going on in the everyday world.
“I think this quarantine period was a good time for me to reflect, do some thing and kind of get down to the bottom of who I am as a person and what I’m trying to be about. I think this is a good way of showing it.”
LeBron James decides not to wear message on back of jersey
LeBron James has been at the forefront of a number of social justice fights and will go down as one of the most outspoken athletes of all-time. Which is why it came as somewhat of a surprise that he made the decision to not wear a message on his jersey.
“I actually didn’t go with a message on the back of my jersey. It’s no disrespect to the list that was handed out to all the players, I commend anyone that decides to put something on the back of their jersey. It’s just something that didn’t really serious resonate with my mission, with my goal,” James explained.
“I would’ve loved to have a say so of what would have went on the back of my jersey. I had a couple things in mind but I wasn’t part of that process, which is OK. I’m absolutely OK with that. What I will continue to do off the floor and when I’m talking to you guys and everything that I do has a purpose and meaning.”
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