see how I told my boss to take this job and shove it!
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Damian Lillard is upset that the NBA is supporting its players to be vocal in supporting social justice off the court, but not on it. The Portland Trail Blazers star likened the silencing of athlete protests to “slavery” in comments he made on a local interview show over the weekend.
Lillard, who is primed for a big fall with a new shoe release and an album dropping on the same day in addition to another season with the Trail Blazers, seems upset that NBA commissioner Adam Silver won’t let players protest during the National Anthem, threatening punishment if they violate NBA rules this season.
Lillard said that not letting athlets “stand for anything” while wearing an NBA jersey means the league only cares about the athletic talents of its players, a move he compared to the slave trade.
Oregon Public Broadcasting host Dave Miller asked Lillard what it felt like when players were told to “just play the game” during a Think Out Loud segment that aired Thursday.
“Looking at it now, how they just want us to go out and play basketball and you know, ‘put that jersey on and be proud’ and ‘don’t represent anything,’ ‘don’t stand for anything,’ ‘don’t have an opinion, just be respectful’ and ‘go out there and play for me’—it makes me think about kind of the way it was with slavery, when it was, they want the young, strong and you know, ‘His arms are long and he’s got big calves.’ It reminds me of that,” Lillard told OPB.
“They want us to go out and do what we’re built to do. We’re good athletes; we’re physically strong; we’re very capable…They don’t want to know what we think; they don’t care how we feel about something. It’s just ‘Go out there and do what your job is.'”
The common refrain from those who are against athletes protesting is that they should indeed go out there and do their jobs. But when you consider his words it’s easy to understand why Lillard’s comparison is valid in his mind. To be silenced like this means Lillard feels he’s only valued for his athletic ability. It can be dehumanizing to be regarded in that way, and that’s where his frustration comes from.
Lillard isn’t the only player who seems bristled by the NBA’s mandate that they can’t protest silently during the National Anthem. J.R. Smith even tweeted about it over the weekend, though no team has done any sort of protest in preseason thus far.
Whether that changes on opening night is tough to say, but it wouldn’t be surprising if others spoke out in this way and joined Lillard in airing their frustrations with the public.
do you like going to work? Me neither! See how I got around that and got paid too!
from Carlos B2 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uproxx/features/~3/MjpiW3sqa9Y/
via carlosbastarache216.blogspot.com/
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