Is it Possible for Sports to Offer the Wrong Kind of Distraction?

There was a time, just a few weeks ago, when sports returning would offer everyone a much needed respite from the world we were all inhabiting. The pandemic’s strange-hold on our country, and the world, would be loosened by the return of sports. The light at the end of this tunnel would feel just a tad brighter. The empty seats and piped-in crowd noise would feel strange and uncomfortable, but in the end, it would be a step in the right direction. A step towards normalcy or the new-normal or whatever else we want to call it.

Then George Floyd was killed and 2020 shifted on its axis again.

The last few weeks have been historic, but gone are the hoped for images of George Bush throwing out the first pitch following 9/11. Many were wondering what enduring sports moment would exist following the coronavirus. Suddenly, the protests have brought about a schism in our country again: anti-racist vs. racist. It shouldn’t be a schism, but it is, which sucks. It’s a schism so deep that the anticipation of sports healing our wounds has been eradicated. This wound might be too deep to heal with a basketball game. That sounds trite, but a month ago we thought sports would be the distraction that we all need.

Now the discussion is should sports be a distraction at all in this pivotal time in our history.

The NBA, which seemed primed for a late July re-start in an Orlando bubble, is now at odds with itself. Players like LA Laker Dwight Howard and Brooklyn Net Kyrie Irving are pumping the brakes and wondering aloud what the optics might look like if they return to play amidst this social strife. Would it be more powerful for the players to pass up the opportunity to play out the season and defy the owners. Could this be the NBA’s chance to stamp itself as a THE socially aware league. Would the message from predominantly black players be loud and clear to their predominantly white ownership (read: nearly every single one)? Would the short term blowback (which would likely exist) be worth the possible long-term gains. Are the players voices amplified if they go out and play and use that platform to speak about racial injustice in this country?

Just like any large workforce, NBA players have various opinions and thoughts on returning to play. These questions are not taken lightly, nor should they be. It’s a big deal right now for any sort to return to action.

The fact that we’re not sure if our country can handle the mental load of watching live sports while also thinking critically about systemic racism might be the most concerning part of all of this. There has to be a world where sports can offer some form of distraction while also understanding the horrible systems we have in our country that hold hold black people in this country.

I have to wonder what might have happened if there was not coronavirus, but the still happened (I think the virus fueled a lot of the frustration we saw in the protests, but they still could have occurred). Would the NBA have played? There would have been four teams left in the playoff in late May. However, there are other times when the NBA was offered the same challenge. In 1968 when Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, the NBA was in the Conference Finals. Players considered not playing, but they did. Bill Simmons covered this in the June 15 podcast. In the first 10 minutes he talks about Bill Russell and the Celtics decision to play the day following the assassination. Also, in 2014 Donald Sterlings’s girlfriend released tapes to TMZ of his racist rants. He was horrible and there were some people that thought the Clippers might actually sit out a playoff game against the Golden State Warriors. Ultimately, they played.

In this specific case, the story is a little different because the players have time to make the right choices. It’s not a matter of hours or even days. They have weeks, and the league is already open to players sitting out if they don’t want to enter the Orlando bubble for any reason.

Obviously, there are other moving parts to the NBA’s return. We’re in the middle of a pandemic and the players are leaving their families for six weeks before they can also enter the bubble. I wrote about the fact that these players are also people a few weeks ago, and I think it continues to ring true the closer we get to the restart of some of these leagues. And I think that’s okay.

Finally, a well-known issue in the country is our attention span. Who knows where Black Lives Matter stands at the end of the July. We’ll be three months away from an election, possibly wading through national conventions and presidential debates. It’s really possible that Black Lives Matter might be on the back burner, how powerful would it be if the NBA returned and utilized their influence with an organized, cohesive message around social injustice and racial discrimination. It might not be a distraction from the struggle, but instead a bullhorn exactly when the movement needs it.