{"id":2495,"date":"2016-11-17T11:55:05","date_gmt":"2016-11-17T16:55:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/?p=2495"},"modified":"2016-11-17T12:45:57","modified_gmt":"2016-11-17T17:45:57","slug":"protest-basketball-nba-election-reactions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2016\/11\/17\/protest-basketball-nba-election-reactions\/","title":{"rendered":"Protest and Basketball: NBA Election Reactions"},"content":{"rendered":"

A number of NBA<\/strong> players, coaches, and teams have spent the past week denouncing and protesting a Donald Trump<\/strong> presidency. Trump, who won the highly contentious U.S. presidential election on November 8th, has been a polarizing figure in the past year, running a campaign based largely on misogynistic, racist, and xenophobic rhetoric.<\/p>\n

The reaction of the NBA to Trump’s rise is not surprising. The league and its players\u00a0have a strong\u00a0history of protesting within the new era civil rights movement, particularly in response to incidents of racism and police brutality. Given the influence that professional athletes have in today’s society, this tradition of activism\u00a0must be supported to continue.<\/p>\n

Protest and Basketball: NBA Election Reactions<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Players React to Election Result<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The reaction of NBA players to Trump\u2019s unexpected win was predominantly unfavorable. This makes sense, given the NBA\u2019s demographics. According to Sports Illustrated<\/strong>\u2019s Jonathan Jones<\/strong>, black players made up 74.3%<\/a> of the NBA at the start of the 2016-17 season.<\/p>\n

Just hours after the election, LeBron James<\/a><\/strong> posted a solid black image to his Instagram account, linked to an audio file of rapper Kendrick Lamar\u2019s<\/strong>\u00a0“Alright”<\/a>. In an emotionally charged post, James wrote, in part, “Minorities and Women in all please know that this isn’t the end, it’s just a very challenging obstacle that we will overcome!!”<\/p>\n

Guards\u00a0C.J. McCollum<\/a><\/strong> and Damian Lillard<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0of the Portland Trail Blazers<\/strong> responded to the election result\u00a0with prayer:<\/p>\n

\n

Lord please help us all \ud83d\ude4f\ud83c\udffd we're going to need it<\/p>\n

— CJ McCollum (@CJMcCollum) November 9, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n