Baller Alert Entertainment & Lifestyle
An anonymous NBA agent says the league’s support of the Black Lives Matter movement “really hurt the business.”
Imagine living in a world where people value money over the lives of Black people. Whoops, we are living in that world. According to Complex Media, The Athletic conducted an anonymous survey, and in it, one of the NBA agents criticized the league’s decision to uplift and support the Black Lives Matter movement, calling the movement a “horrible look for the league.”
Now mind you: Black people make up 74.4 percent of the players. Yet, this unnamed agent claims players are “being manipulated” by the movement. He added that the movement “really hurt the business.” The thing is racism and white supremacy really hurts that Black community.
“They initially did a great job by putting the bubble together and they completely shit the bed with all this nonsense. They really hurt the business…All of this Black Lives Matter stuff…I think that the players are being manipulated into something that they don’t really understand and I think it’s a horrible look for the league and they need to be very clear about the organization, what they stand for,” said the agent.
Back in August, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski revealed on his podcast that several owners weren’t happy about the league supporting BLM. Players have been seen kneeling and wearing BLM matters shirts along with clothing that honors the names of slain Black people. Players have also voiced their disappointment with the justice system and the police force during interviews. The league also painted “Black Lives Matter” on the court, which didn’t sit too well with NBA team owners.
“Some are extremely supportive. Some less so. None of them publicly [critical],” ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said, per Bleacher Report. “But I do know [NBA commissioner] Adam Silver told them, ‘Hey guys, this is what we’re going to do to support our players,” he added. “Our league is overwhelmingly comprised of African American players. This is important. This is a partnership.”
According to Complex, a reported 5.6 million viewers watched the Los Angeles Lakers win the championship against the Miami Heat in Game 6. Last year, 18.34 million viewers watched the Toronto Raptors and Golden State Warriors. The difference in numbers doesn’t necessarily mean the NBA’s support of BLM led to the decreased in numbers. The fan bases of the teams should also be considered. The same night the Lakers were competing against the Heat, their viewership was also split amongst the people who were watching Sunday Night Football, which garnered 11.4 million viewers.
Either way, equality for everyone should be at the center of everyone’s attention, regardless of the business. Because in reality, if Black people were being oppressed, murdered and brutalized at an outrageous rate, we wouldn’t even be discussing this.
