Boston Celtics: As play resumes, the focus remains on social issues
An entertaining series between two elite teams will begin tomorrow when the Boston Celtics take on the Toronto Raptors. Don’t expect to hear about x’s and o’s, though, as the focus remains on social issues.
As the Boston Celtics spoke to the media Saturday afternoon ahead of their Sunday afternoon Game 1 showdown with the Toronto Raptors, there was talk of the events of the past few days…days that did not include NBA basketball games being played.
The focus was instead on the shooting of Jacob Blake, the Milwaukee Bucks’ walkout on Wednesday afternoon and subsequent boycotts by the NBA, and the collective mood of the players inside the bubble given everything happening in this country:
Jaylen Brown: “There were a lot of guys in the room that had a lot of pain. ... Frankly we feel helpless and we feel tired.”
— Jay King (@ByJayKing) August 29, 2020
Said people focused on the divisiveness of some comments in the meetings, but he thinks the unity players showed is impressive.
Jayson Tatum said when all the players come together, “we’re powerful.”
— Jay King (@ByJayKing) August 29, 2020
“We’ve realized that and the outside world has as well.”
Brad Stevens: "We’ve created a huge plan of attack with every member of our organization, where we can be even more focused on allocating our time, resources and energy in several different areas. Whether it’s voting education, health, criminal justice, whatever the case may be."
— Taylor Snow (@taylorcsnow) August 29, 2020
This is why the players entered the bubble. While crowning a champion and fulfilling television contracts were undoubtedly in the interests of owners, players had the added caveat of using their platform to enable real change in the world. Money talks and the NBA’s ambitious bubble venture allows the league to mitigate losses and use their marketing platform to help pass laws to benefit communities represented by their players.
Expect great basketball as the 2020 NBA postseason continues, but expect the conversation to continue to be driven by players about advancing the conversation on bridging the gap on racial inequality in this country.
Where does BR have Tatum in MVP rankings?. dark. Next