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Michelle and Barack Obama have long had associations with the NBA and the game of basketball. Back in his college days, President Obama was a big-time Bulls fan and idolized Michael Jordan. Obama was also the President who had the great fortune of awarding the NBA legend with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Michelle Obama to address NBA, WNBA on voting
NBA and WNBA players have been quite vocal about social issues and racial equality in particular over the past couple of months.
NBA Players Association President Chris Paul revealed to Chris Haynes today that they expect to hear from the former First Lady of the United States. The talk will be about voting and how voting this year can impact the country for a long time.
One of the social messages that NBA players have been allowed to put on the backs of their jerseys in the season restart is 'Vote'. This talk will be perfectly in line with that stance.
In a country where black people are stereotyped mainly for their drug use, selling rap records or playing in the NBA, systemic change is a must. That can only be brought about when black legislators enter the system, and they needed to be voted in for that to happen.
NBA players went out and protested quite proactively on the streets following George Floyd's death during the peak of the pandemic. Their continued calls for justice for the killers of Breonna Taylor are already being heard in all quarters.
The likes of Kyrie Irving, Dwight Howard and Avery Bradley even went so far as to ponder leading a players' association to not play in the NBA bubble in Orlando. While those talks simmered down, they were viewed with a lot of affirmation around the league. Players like Jayson Tatum spoke about being in two minds over the issue.
Talking to media in the post-scrimmage press conference about the issue following the Oklahoma City Thunder's 102-97 comeback win, Chris Paul was ecstatic:
The thing I'm most proud about is that our players agreed to $300 million going to social justice issues that players get to determine where it goes.
If this does go through, it will represent the first time in the history of the NBA, or indeed American sports, that a players' association will use their salaries for social empowerment on a collective scale.
The NBA has always been viewed as the most progressive of all the big North American sports leagues. As the only American league with a truly global audience, the NBA has an influence that no other league holds. It bodes well for humanity that they are using this for the greater good.
