Programming note: With the NBA return on July 31 now official, we will be taking a brief summer break from now until the first week of August. We will run lists from the first week of August through the second week of October to coincide with the conclusion of the '19-'20 season and the 2020 NBA Draft. We will take another brief break from mid-October to early December, at which point we'll return with the 2020 edition of our top 500 players of all-time, then continue on in January with regularly scheduled programming.
As protests expand across the U.S. and the world, and the Black Lives Matter and Defund the Police movements gain steam, we take a look at several NBA players that are especially notable for their commitment to social justice and activism.
1) Bill Russell
Not only was Russell the first prominent black superstar in NBA history (and the first black head coach), he was also one of the most outspoken racial justice advocates the game has ever seen. When a restaurant in Lexington, Kentucky refused service to Russell and his black Celtics teammates in 1961, he led a boycott of the scheduled exhibition game that night, kicking off a decade of activism. He eventually became an active member of the NAACP, an advocate for the 1964 Civil Rights Act, a friend to Black Panther co-founder Huey Newton, and part of the famed Cleveland Summit in 1967, when several star black athletes showed their support for Muhammed Ali refusing service in the Vietnam War. Like so many activists of his era, Russell subsequently became the target of increasing racist attacks (including vandalism in his Boston home) and FBI surveillance. But he has persevered in his commitment to racial justice even to this day, most recently standing up for Black Lives Matter and Colin Kaepernick.
2) Oscar Robertson
Pretty much every black athlete that played in the '50s and '60s had numerous run-ins with racist fans and institutions, but Robertson can make the rare claim that he personally received a letter from the Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. That correspondence was a warning to Robertson to not participate in the 1959 NCAA Dixie Classic in North Carolina, and it was indicative of the treatment he and his fellow black stars faced at the time. In his capacity as NBPA president and the titular plaintiff of the Robertson v. NBA lawsuit, he fought hard for the rights of an increasingly black NBA player base. Robertson also helped spearhead, along with Bill Russell and Tom Heinsohn, the 1964 All-Star Game boycott which led to players finally receiving a pension. He recently made headlines by calling out prominent white athletes for not speaking out enough about social justice issues.
3) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Shy and self-conscious, Abdul-Jabbar was not a natural fit for basketball stardom or Black Power social activism, but he eventually embraced and intertwined both. He grew up in Harlem and witnessed first hand the 1964 riots that roiled New York after an off-duty cop murdered an unarmed black teenager. Arriving at UCLA as arguably the most hyped prospect in NCAA basketball history, Abdul-Jabbar (then Lew Alcindor) began putting his fame to good use, meeting with Muhammed Ali at the Cleveland Summit to support his refusal to serve in the Vietnam War, and leading a boycott of the 1968 Olympics to protest racist policies in the U.S. This carried over into his NBA stardom, most notably after winning the MVP and Finals MVP awards in 1971, when he officially announced his conversion to Islam and subsequent name change. Almost 50 years later he's still at it, regularly getting his thoughts on race and religion published in major newspapers and magazines.
4) Craig Hodges
While his most famous teammate was infamously dodging taking a political stance because "Republicans buy sneakers too," Hodges gained a reputation as an outspoken advocate for black American issues. A journeyman, three-point shooting specialist, Hodges signed with the Bulls in 1988 and was part of their first two championship teams, but was cut before the '92-'93 season and never played in the NBA again. Executives claimed it was due to his poor defensive skills but Hodges saw it as a refutation of his outspoken social activism and friendship with controversial Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. When the 1991 Rodney King arrest happened while the Bulls were playing the Lakers in the NBA Finals, Hodges reportedly approached Michael Jordan about a player boycott in response and was rebuffed. He later showed up to the requisite post-championship White House visit in a traditional African dashiki, and handed George Bush a letter expressing concerns about racism and Operation Desert Storm (Bush, unsurprisingly, never responded). When Hodges was unable to find work after Chicago waived him, he sued the league claiming that the owners were colluding to blackball him. He lost the lawsuit but did eventually return to the NBA as an assistant coach under Phil Jackson on the Lakers.
5) Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf
Just like Colin Kaepernick's silent kneeling protest, Abdul-Rauf's refusal to stand for the national anthem during the '95-'96 season actually went unnoticed at first. Eventually, a Nuggets reporter picked up on it and learned that Abdul-Rauf, who had been born Chris Jackson and changed his name in 1993 as part of his conversion to Islam, was refusing to stand in protest of the oppression and bigotry that the flag and anthem represented. A firestorm ensued amongst the media and fans, and commissioner David Stern quickly stepped in and brokered a compromise: Abdul-Rauf would stand for the anthem, but could bow his head in silent prayer. This did little to satiate angry fans, who still taunted the dynamic point guard with racial taunts and death threats (someone eventually went so far as to burn down Abdul-Rauf's home in Mississippi in 2001, an incident in which luckily no one was hurt). Like Craig Hodges and Kaepernick, he was soon unofficially blackballed from the league and eventually forced to close out his career with European teams.
1) Bill Russell
Not only was Russell the first prominent black superstar in NBA history (and the first black head coach), he was also one of the most outspoken racial justice advocates the game has ever seen. When a restaurant in Lexington, Kentucky refused service to Russell and his black Celtics teammates in 1961, he led a boycott of the scheduled exhibition game that night, kicking off a decade of activism. He eventually became an active member of the NAACP, an advocate for the 1964 Civil Rights Act, a friend to Black Panther co-founder Huey Newton, and part of the famed Cleveland Summit in 1967, when several star black athletes showed their support for Muhammed Ali refusing service in the Vietnam War. Like so many activists of his era, Russell subsequently became the target of increasing racist attacks (including vandalism in his Boston home) and FBI surveillance. But he has persevered in his commitment to racial justice even to this day, most recently standing up for Black Lives Matter and Colin Kaepernick.
2) Oscar Robertson
Pretty much every black athlete that played in the '50s and '60s had numerous run-ins with racist fans and institutions, but Robertson can make the rare claim that he personally received a letter from the Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. That correspondence was a warning to Robertson to not participate in the 1959 NCAA Dixie Classic in North Carolina, and it was indicative of the treatment he and his fellow black stars faced at the time. In his capacity as NBPA president and the titular plaintiff of the Robertson v. NBA lawsuit, he fought hard for the rights of an increasingly black NBA player base. Robertson also helped spearhead, along with Bill Russell and Tom Heinsohn, the 1964 All-Star Game boycott which led to players finally receiving a pension. He recently made headlines by calling out prominent white athletes for not speaking out enough about social justice issues.
3) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Shy and self-conscious, Abdul-Jabbar was not a natural fit for basketball stardom or Black Power social activism, but he eventually embraced and intertwined both. He grew up in Harlem and witnessed first hand the 1964 riots that roiled New York after an off-duty cop murdered an unarmed black teenager. Arriving at UCLA as arguably the most hyped prospect in NCAA basketball history, Abdul-Jabbar (then Lew Alcindor) began putting his fame to good use, meeting with Muhammed Ali at the Cleveland Summit to support his refusal to serve in the Vietnam War, and leading a boycott of the 1968 Olympics to protest racist policies in the U.S. This carried over into his NBA stardom, most notably after winning the MVP and Finals MVP awards in 1971, when he officially announced his conversion to Islam and subsequent name change. Almost 50 years later he's still at it, regularly getting his thoughts on race and religion published in major newspapers and magazines.
4) Craig Hodges
While his most famous teammate was infamously dodging taking a political stance because "Republicans buy sneakers too," Hodges gained a reputation as an outspoken advocate for black American issues. A journeyman, three-point shooting specialist, Hodges signed with the Bulls in 1988 and was part of their first two championship teams, but was cut before the '92-'93 season and never played in the NBA again. Executives claimed it was due to his poor defensive skills but Hodges saw it as a refutation of his outspoken social activism and friendship with controversial Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. When the 1991 Rodney King arrest happened while the Bulls were playing the Lakers in the NBA Finals, Hodges reportedly approached Michael Jordan about a player boycott in response and was rebuffed. He later showed up to the requisite post-championship White House visit in a traditional African dashiki, and handed George Bush a letter expressing concerns about racism and Operation Desert Storm (Bush, unsurprisingly, never responded). When Hodges was unable to find work after Chicago waived him, he sued the league claiming that the owners were colluding to blackball him. He lost the lawsuit but did eventually return to the NBA as an assistant coach under Phil Jackson on the Lakers.
5) Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf
Just like Colin Kaepernick's silent kneeling protest, Abdul-Rauf's refusal to stand for the national anthem during the '95-'96 season actually went unnoticed at first. Eventually, a Nuggets reporter picked up on it and learned that Abdul-Rauf, who had been born Chris Jackson and changed his name in 1993 as part of his conversion to Islam, was refusing to stand in protest of the oppression and bigotry that the flag and anthem represented. A firestorm ensued amongst the media and fans, and commissioner David Stern quickly stepped in and brokered a compromise: Abdul-Rauf would stand for the anthem, but could bow his head in silent prayer. This did little to satiate angry fans, who still taunted the dynamic point guard with racial taunts and death threats (someone eventually went so far as to burn down Abdul-Rauf's home in Mississippi in 2001, an incident in which luckily no one was hurt). Like Craig Hodges and Kaepernick, he was soon unofficially blackballed from the league and eventually forced to close out his career with European teams.
6) Etan Thomas
Pulled over and harassed by the police while he was a high school basketball star in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Thomas opted to dedicate his life from there to social activism. While playing for the Wizards in the '00s, he became a prominent anti-Iraq War advocate and was often outspoken about topics like Hurricane Katrina response and police brutality. His 2018 book, "We Matter," featured interviews with various athletes about their experiences with activism, including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Oscar Robertson. Unfortunately, Thomas was arguably the only truly forthright NBA player of his era, as many of his peers had been spooked by the derailment of the careers of Craig Hodges and Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf in the '90s.
7) LeBron James
"Shut up and dribble" has long been an implied ethos to attempt to shout down star athletes using their forums to bring attention to social justice. In February of 2018, someone finally stated the quiet part out loud, when FOX News talking head Laura Ingraham lobbed the epithet at James after he dared to speak his mind about racism. It was especially ghastly in light of James' home having recently been vandalized with racist graffiti. After years of star NBA players ignoring politics and social justice altogether, James has been a throwback to the days of forthright superstars like Bill Russell and Oscar Robertson. He made headlines in 2012 for staging photo of he and his Heat teammates wearing hoodies in response to the Trayon Martin murder, and then in 2014 for wearing a shirt during pre-game warm-ups adorned with the phrase "I Can't Breathe" in response to the police murder of Eric Garner. He's once again been expressing himself freely on social media in support of Black Lives Matter after George Floyd's murder, even getting into it again with Ingraham, calling out her hypocrisy over Drew Brees. Many of James' peers and friends, like Dwayne Wade, Carmelo Anthony, and Russell Westbrook, have taken a cue from him and become outspoken advocates themselves.
8+) Stephen Jackson and more speaking up after George Floyd's murder
Following the murder of George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis Police Department, NBA players have been amongst the most eminent people speaking out and protesting. Jackson was notably a childhood friend of Floyd in Houston and spoke passionately at a Minneapolis rally after his death, sparking his position at the forefront of the current movement. Numerous current and former NBA players followed suit, with Jaylen Brown, Stephen Curry, Dwyane Wade, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Elton Brand, DeMar DeRozan, and Russell Westbrook out amongst the protestors, while everyone from the usual suspects like Kareem and LeBron to surprising entries like Michael Jordan expressed their solidarity on social media. It's been intimated by many insiders that players will attempt to use their leverage of agreement on the remainder of the '19-'20 season to get the league and its owners more involved in social justice movements.