WNBA and NBA resumption is bigger than basketball

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Photo Credit: ABC News

Players from the WNBA and NBA have made their decisions on whether or not to sit out for this resumed season. There is a pandemic going on, but we are also fighting against social injustice.

The WNBA season has a 22 game season, where they are playing at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, and they just started a few days ago. The NBA is hosting 22 teams in Orlando, Florida where there will be 8 seeding games per teams.

There are still many concerns about the coronavirus cases in Florida which is steady rising and around the nation as we’ve seen that the MLB’s lack of a bubble has hurt them right away in their season.

Originally, 16 out of 302 NBA players had tested positive while 7 out of 137 WNBA players tested positive. Since then, because of the mandatory quarantining, there have been no new cases within the bubble.

NBA Champion Kyrie Irving voiced his opinion on whether or not the NBA should resume. African Americans are literally fighting 2 pandemics: COVID19 and racism. Everyone is witnessing what is happening to African Americans and what it means to be black in America. Now is the time to inform and to understand and to stand up for Black Lives.

George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Elijah McClain, and Tony McDade were all murdered by police officers. We witnessed a 8 minute and 46 second video of Floyd dying with a police officer’s knee to his neck after he called out “I can’t breathe”. Breonna Taylor died by being shot at 22 times with 8 of those bullets hitting her while she was asleep. Elijah McClain died from cardiac arrest all because he looked “suspicious”. Tony McDade ,an African American trans man, died as well.

Four-time WNBA champion Maya Moore shocked the basketball world when she decided to sit out in the 2019 season to help with social injustice. Moore found another purpose to help with systemic racism that African Americans are faced with daily. A player such as Maya Moore with many accolades, left basketball to help a prisoner Jonathan Irons who were serving 50 years in a burglary and assault with a deadly weapon.

Same goes for two-time WNBA champion Renee Montgomery who announced via twitter she would not be playing in the 2020 season, a native from St. Albans, West Virginia. Montgomery has her own foundation, has raised money to help protestors and support Black Live Movements movement.

Chris Paul was asked a great question from Taylor Rooks on what it would mean to be successful during this movement as they return to play:

We have a long way to go with social justice reform, and maybe the platforms that these athletes have can indeed make a difference. We will see as official NBA games begins in two days.

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