Barack Obama Says NBA Is a Leader in Social Activism

Barack Obama has credited the current generation of NBA players for restoring activism to the lives of African-American Athletes.

Since the Covid-19 pandemic, it has been accepted that the sports world and the wider world would be forever changed.

The unexpected consequence of pandemic condition has been the intensified political atmosphere. A series of incidents involving racial brutality by police officers towards African-Americans over the summer were the tipping point.

Black athletes have since been more outspoken than they have since the days of Jack Johnson, Jackie Robinson & Muhammad Ali.

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Barack Obama made his comments in a conversation with LeBron James, which will air on HBO on Friday.

In the available snippet, the former President credits the NBA for it’s leadership which others have followed.

“When you think about the history of African-American athletes, dating back to Jack Johnson the boxer, and then you’ve got Jackie Robinson, you’ve got Muhammad Ali, you’ve got folks like Bill Russell in the NBA, Arthur Ashe in tennis,” said Barack Obama. 

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“And then for a while I think there was a suspension of activism. For a time, the African-American athlete started thinking in terms of contracts, money, shoe deals, etc. To see this new generation without fear in speaking their mind and their conscience, I think you guys are setting the tone for a lot of young people coming up and a lot of other athletes in other leagues. We saw what happened after Milwaukee and the NBA players did what they did. WNBA players, you started seeing soccer players, you start seeing NFL players doing stuff, baseball. You guys really showed leadership on this in a way that deserves a lot of credit and made me real proud.”