'Nothing but a Shakedown': Twitter Users Roast NBA After Woke League Rolls Out 'Justice Coalition'
The NBA has repeatedly shown it has become a leftist organization. On Wednesday, it proved this once again by releasing a video detailing the role of its new “Social Justice Coalition.”
According to Yahoo Sports, the NBA Social Justice Coalition was formed in November 2020 through a partnership of the league, the NBA Players Association and the NBA Coaches Association.
Since its establishment, the coalition has “released statements over the past year addressing racial and social inequality issues in the news,” Yahoo said.
But it was only within the past month that the group began to establish a presence on social media.
In a tweet on Wednesday, the Social Justice Coalition clearly laid out its vision and goals, with NBA stars including Jrue Holiday, Donovan Mitchell and Carmelo Anthony appearing in a video to voice their support.
“It is our responsibility to take what we’ve learned from history, push forward and make a better life,” Holiday said.
We here.
We are players, coaches, team governors, and executives working to advance social justice policy reform. pic.twitter.com/tQZfV0ag8m
— National Basketball Social Justice Coalition (@NBACoalition) December 1, 2021
The video said the issues the coalition plans to address included voting, policing and criminal justice.
The Social Justice Coalition’s executive director is James Cadogan, who previously served as a senior official at the Department of Justice under former President Barack Obama, the NBA said in a news release on April 15.
He further explained the group’s vision in the video.
“Our goal is really simple,” Cadogan said. “We want to take moments of protest, moments of people power like we saw last year and turn them into public policy. We want to change laws.”
However, many Twitter users questioned the group’s focus.
Some critics pointed out that while the coalition claims to care about “social justice,” it has remained silent on the Chinese genocide of the Uyghurs, a persecuted ethnic minority.
Why does the NBA endorse slave labor in China, your silence on this is alarming.
— Les Hathaway (@les_hathaway) December 1, 2021
If you really cared about social justice, you’d terminate ties with the racist slave factory Nike and hire local black businesses to make your apparel/merchandise. You’d also force your players to donate at least 25% of their salary to underserved communities.
— Rabid (@RabidRocks) December 1, 2021
Start by following the WTA’s lead and break ties with Chinese genocide, then we’ll talk.
— AgnosticVoter (@AgnosticFox) December 2, 2021
But China can still have sneaker death camps , release a bio weapon virus, pollute more than anyone else. And take away basic human freedoms from MILLIONS, might want to aim a little higher next time.
— Micky Fin (@MickyFinrules) December 2, 2021
The NBA is in the middle of an eight-year apparel deal with Nike that began in the 2017-18 season, ESPN reported. The company provides uniforms for all 30 teams.
According to Forbes, Nike was one of 83 companies linked to forced labor by Uyghurs. The outlet said a study by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute found Uyghurs were “funneled into factories” to work in environments “that strongly suggest forced labor.”
Another person said the coalition should focus on the hugely inflated crime rates in urban minority communities.
“Maybe do something about the 600-700 black on black murders in Chicago alone?” the user said. “This is nothing but a shakedown…”
Unfortunate that nothing is sacred from this nonsense. Maybe do something about the 600-700 black on black murders in Chicago alone? This is nothing but a shakedown…
— Joe Blow (@JoeBlow13812723) December 1, 2021
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the murder rate in the city’s seven “most dangerous” police districts is almost 100 killings per 100,000 residents. These districts are “largely poor, black and Latino areas.”
By comparison, Chicago’s safest seven districts had a murder rate almost 30 times lower. The Sun-Times described those districts as “mostly white, affluent neighborhoods.”
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