Michael Jordan was famously apolitical during his illustrious NBA career. In recent years, Jordan has become more willing to openly discuss controversial political and social issues, and the Charlotte Hornets' owner is now asking his fellow NBA owners to give current players a chance to speak for disenfranchised communities.
In fact, ESPN's Jackie MacMullan says that the six-time NBA Champion has worked in many ways over the past 24 hours as a bridge between owners and players, who have largely had entirely different life experiences.
After in-depth conversations with Oklahoma City Thunder star Chris Paul - the current president of the NBA Player's Association - and former NBA MVP Russell Westbrook, Jordan apparently brought a simple message to a meeting with the other 29 owners Thursday morning:
"Right now, listening is better than talking," Jordan told the group, according to sources.
All NBA playoff games were postponed Wednesday, after the Milwaukee Bucks chose to boycott Game 5 of their playoff series with the Orlando Magic. Games will not resume Thursday, though ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski has reported that the tentative plan is for the postseason to resume in the coming days.
In addition to the NBA's postseason respite, multiple MLB games have been postponed between Wednesday and Thursday, as players unite to ask for action to be taken after Jacob Blake was shot - and ultimately paralyzed - by a police officer in Kenosha, Wisconsin seven times. Four-time NBA MVP LeBron James issued a heartfelt tweet Wednesday after the Bucks refused to take the court:
MacMullan's article went on to say that owners are attempting to strike the balance between finishing the postseason and also making sure that they continue to find ways to help some of the league's biggest names push forward the conversation on racial inequalities and police brutality in American.
Though he once said that "Republicans buy sneakers, too," Jordan changed his tune in July of 2016, saying that he "could no longer be silent." At the time, Jordan made joint donations of $1 million each to "the International Association of Chiefs of Police’s newly established Institute for Community-Police Relations and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund." This past June, Jordan and his Nike-owned Jordan brand announced a contribution of "$100 million over the next 10 years to organizations dedicated to ensuring racial equality, social justice and greater access to education."
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