2016 Official NBA Off-Season Thread: Former Greatness

[osh kosh bosh]

i think he;s talking about stripping a state of their team, not the owner. The owner did nothing wrong here.

But i'd assume the process to strip a state from their franchise would probably be even more difficult. Way too extreme for this matter.

Taking the ASG was necessary, but its not going to help unfortunately

MJ owns the team, he decides where he wants to keep it. (with the L's blessing)

can't move it without his consent so if you want to move it you gotta take it from MJ.

 

[IATT]

if this continues to happen, it will definitely have an impact in Carolina:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...onent-because-of-north-carolina-bathroom-law/

they really don't care about the NBA, sure it's nice.. but they don't care CARE like they do about duke and UNC

also think they brush off the paypal or losing out on potential investors or business

 

[Lovetohate3000]

Bomani is cool but man, i can't listen to his voice.

whats wrong with his voice, 

 

[mgrand15]

The reaching in here is incredible.

Comparing an All Star week to moving an entire franchise from a city.

Comparing Charlotte to China.

I don't get why y'all hide behind these. You can just say what you really feel.

 

[Lovetohate3000]

The reaching in here is incredible.

Comparing an All Star week to moving an entire franchise from a city.

Comparing Charlotte to China.

I don't get why y'all hide behind these. You can just say what you really feel.

i think you reaching on this 

the nba is hypocritical and will only take stances when they wont lose money. 

 

[buc em]

We're in an age in the NBA where you can tell a player that you're going to **** in his mouth then go **** his mom, wife and sister after the game and it's just considered "getting in a players head" and you might get a technical if the ref hears you....but if you utter a single gay slur to a guy in a non-homophobic way to a player or coach that isn't even gay and it gets out to the media then you're suspended and blacklisted from the league. So I don't know why I'm looking for any level of consistency at this point.

 

[cashbanks]

View media item 1666671

 

[a-friend]

The reaching in here is incredible.

Comparing an All Star week to moving an entire franchise from a city.

Comparing Charlotte to China.

I don't get why y'all hide behind these. You can just say what you really feel.

I'm pretty sure the two NT'ers who spoke on "comparing AS Week to moving a franchise" and "Charlotte to China" did say what they really feel.

Why don't YOU say what YOU really feel about them or it and YOU stop with the yada yada yada.

 

[osh kosh bosh]

We're in an age in the NBA where you can tell a player that you're going to **** in his mouth then go **** his mom, wife and sister after the game and it's just considered "getting in a players head" and you might get a technical if the ref hears you....but if you utter a single gay slur to a guy in a non-homophobic way to a player or coach that isn't even gay and it gets out to the media then you're suspended and blacklisted from the league. So I don't know why I'm looking for any level of consistency at this point.

wait wait wait.

So you can't understand why a slur that targets peoples identities is more troublesome to the NBA than random scatological references?

 

[Lovetohate3000]

I'm pretty sure the two NT'ers who spoke on "comparing AS Week to moving a franchise" and "Charlotte to China" did say what they really feel.

Why don't YOU say what YOU really feel about them or it and YOU stop with the yada yada yada.

thank you. 

 

[100027]

 
i think you reaching on this 

the nba is hypocritical and will only take stances when they wont lose money. 

So what you care about is the hypocrisy, right?  You'd like them to take more pro-LGBT stances even in cases when they might lose money, right?

 

[mgrand15]

I'm pretty sure the two NT'ers who spoke on "comparing AS Week to moving a franchise" and "Charlotte to China" did say what they really feel.

Why don't YOU say what YOU really feel about them or it and YOU stop with the yada yada yada.

What exactly is unclear about how I really feel? Am I dancing around what I think about what they're doing?

 

[casper90403]

MJ owns the team, he decides where he wants to keep it. (with the L's blessing)

can't move it without his consent so if you want to move it you gotta take it from MJ.

Yes, and that would be ridiculous to do to MJ, who didn't come up with the law. I think we agree

 

[Lovetohate3000]

 
So what you care about is the hypocrisy, right?  You'd like them to take more pro-LGBT stances even in cases when they might lose money, right?

yes. i dont care for political or moral stances but if you going to do it , dont only do it when you benefit or dont stand to lose from it . thats exactly how i feel. 

 

[youngthundercat]

Bomani is cool but man, i can't listen to his voice.

yea but outside of Labatard, hes the only one with ESPN that speaks with a conscious mind. 

 

[100027]

 
yes. i dont care for political or moral stances but if you going to do it , dont only do it when you benefit or dont stand to lose from it . thats exactly how i feel. 

Okay that's fine.  Then advocate for them taking more stances when it comes to doing what's right rather than taking less.  Any good is good.  This "all the way or nothing at all" stuff doesn't benefit anybody.

Otherwise it sounds like you're doing the "hypocrisy" thing to deflect from the fact that you don't want them taking a stand for Civil Rights at all.

 

[a-friend]

I'm pretty sure the two NT'ers who spoke on "comparing AS Week to moving a franchise" and "Charlotte to China" did say what they really feel.

Why don't YOU say what YOU really feel about them or it and YOU stop with the yada yada yada.

What exactly is unclear about how I really feel? Am I dancing around what I think about what they're doing?

Well you aren't just flat out saying it, that's for sure.

They flat out said how they feel.

You're just insinuating that you think they have some reasoning behind what they've said.

So yes you are dancing.

What exactly do you think these folks ought to come out and "really say", since what they said isn't what they meant, according to you

 

[cashbanks]

Really?

 

[BIG LEEMELONE]

Man I wonder what some of yall would say if this was the 60s. Black athletes need to just stick to sports. Leave all that civil rights and freedom bs to the dudes that are already assassinated. If you almost get lynched on the way to the arena I don't need to know about it, I'm just trying to see some nice dribbling.

 

[a-friend]

Really?

Apparently

 

[Lovetohate3000]

Man I wonder what some of yall would say if this was the 60s. Black athletes need to just stick to sports. Leave all that civil rights and freedom bs to the dudes that are already assassinated. If you almost get lynched on the way to the arena I don't need to know about it, I'm just trying to see some nice dribbling.

this isnt the 60s. 

 

[BIG LEEMELONE]

this isnt the 60s. 

You're right. It's 2016 and everything's hunky dory. Dudes need to just get them checks and keep their mouth shut.

 

[mgrand15]

Well you aren't just flat out saying it, that's for sure.

They flat out said how they feel.

You're just insinuating that you think they have some reasoning behind what they've said.

So yes you are dancing.

What exactly do you think these folks ought to come out and "really say", since what they said isn't what they meant, according to you

They either don't understand how silly their comparisons are or are just deflecting from their true feelings - either not wanting the NBA to do anything political at all or that there's nothing wrong with the Bill passed. Pretty sure that was obvious by the way the initial post was phrased.

 

[slick vitale]

Activist: Athletes wield real power; action needed

Prominent sociologist and civil-rights activist Dr. Harry Edwards says the efforts of superstars such as Carmelo Anthony  and LeBron James  in using their platforms as a means for social change reflect an evolution in power among top black athletes but that action will be required to effect real change.

Edwards, a professor emeritus at the University of California-Berkeley, told The Associated Press that athletes "have the capability today that we only dreamed about in the 1960s when only one or two athletes even had endorsements."

He dated the punctuated moments of the evolution back to the early part of the 20th century, saying it began as fights to gain legitimacy, then access, before moving on to respect and dignity -- and ultimately power.

"Joe Louis and Jack Johnson and Jesse Owens struggled for legitimacy," Edwards said. Then "you began this struggle for access. Which is what Jackie Robinson and Larry Doby and Kenny Washington and all those guys were involved in. In the 1960s, the struggle was for respect and dignity.

"Now the struggle is for power. And these men have power. So they have a different forum than we had in the late 1960s to be able to go on network television and make a statement concerning violence and the killing of black men, women and children in this country. ... That's an exercise of power."

"Now the struggle is for power. And these men have power," Dr. Harry Edwards says. "So they have a different forum than we had in the late 1960s to be able to go on network television and make a statement. ... That's an exercise of power."  Anthony, the New York Knicks  star forward, is taking a break Monday from his preparations with the U.S. Olympic basketball team to host a meeting in Los Angeles with athletes, politicians and people in the community to advance the conversation about what he has called a broken system. Anthony's meeting in Los Angeles coincides with the latest stop on the Olympic men's team exhibition schedule as the Americans prepare for the Rio Games.

Edwards pointed to the need for progress on both an individual and collective level. He said trust and respect needs to be built between individuals and police and that both sides need to acknowledge wrongdoing. There are criminals in the community who deserve to be arrested and rogue officers who need to be held accountable for excessive force, he said.

The bottom line of any step is the voting booth, Edwards said.

"If you're out there marching up and down the street with Black Lives Matter and then don't go to the polls to vote out the mayor of Ferguson, to vote out the sheriff of Milwaukee County or whatever, then ... you're marching into a cul-de-sac," Edwards said. "When you march into a cul-de-sac and just come back out angry, you're not a member of a movement because it's not going anywhere. You're a member of a mob.

"And the difference in a representative democracy between a movement and a mob is whether you follow through with the actions necessary to make the changes that you've been trying to convince people are the correct direction to go."

The newfound power of today's athlete comes from monetary wealth, celebrity status and having the vehicle of social media to communicate directly with the masses. They can reach hordes of people, encouraging them to get involved in social change.

Anthony, James, Chris Paul  and Dwyane Wade  gave an anti-violence speech at the ESPYS and expressed their support of the values behind the Black Lives Matter movement. Missouri  football players threatened to boycott games last year in support of student groups protesting the school's racial environment, and Missouri president Timothy Wolfe eventually retired. Serena Williams  spoke out against the violence at Wimbledon. Members of the WNBA's Indiana Fever, New York Liberty and Phoenix Mercury recently wore black warm-up shirts in the wake of recent shootings by and against police officers and were initially fined by the league.

The WNBA rescinded the fines after a public backlash.

It is almost economically impossible to ignore today's athletes as the power they wield reaches further than their bank accounts.

James is worth millions of dollars to the Cleveland economy as the success of the Cavaliers  motivates thousands of people to spend. The Cavs' attendance ranked No. 2 in the league in 2009-10 and the past two seasons but dipped as low as No. 22 during James' four years with theMiami Heat.

Athletes' influence goes beyond promoting merchandise and ticket sales.

Social media allows athletes to directly communicate with millions of followers with a few keystrokes. Edwards explained that ISIS has used social media in a similar way to recruit self-radicalized people. The difference is in the message.

Dr. Joseph Cooper, an assistant professor at the University of Connecticut, echoed Edwards in saying any major social policy -- civil rights movement, feminist movement, passage of Title IX -- began with multiple conversations.

But there must be action behind the words. Both said that is the next step in the process.

Cooper called for sustained engagement from athletes on whatever level they are comfortable -- such as continuing the conversation, meeting with groups like Black Lives Matter, the NAACP and 100 Black Men, and identifying specific issues and targeting ways to improve them. Cooper also discussed the need to have benchmarks in which progress can be measured. "All these athletes say we care about the Black Lives Matter movement. In a year from now, we want to see that you've actually been continuing in championing the support," Cooper said. "Muhammad Ali's legacy is a great example of how he didn't rest on his laurels in making one decision and saying OK, that's enough.

"In a concise manner, the steps forward are sustained engagement. What that looks like for each individual athlete and each community will be different. But it definitely involves tangible action, civic responsibility and engagement and accountability measures. The call for accountability has to be followed up with actual consequences if certain things aren't done."

Edwards said sports have become a religion in this country and around the world, giving athletes more influence than in the past. He believes as "walking corporations" they carry more weight than "the doctor up the street or the lawyer around the corner or even the community organizer."

"Sports in modern societies really amount to secular religions," Edwards said. "Athletes have a phenomenal megaphone. ... So that obligation to speak up, especially in regards to the African-American outcomes and interests, is critical."

 

[BIG LEEMELONE]

Activist: Athletes wield real power; action needed

Unless it's a real power forward, I'm not tryna hear it. Just put the ball in the hoop bruh. I just wanna watch the game, eat hot wings, drink Pepsi and wear Reebok. Leave the politics to trump.