May 16, 2019
On this episode of The Authority I discuss the new era of
leadership in the NBA under commissioner Adam Silver. I compare
Silver’s leadership with his predecessor David Stern and the
contrast of how they treated their players in a league which
comprised of a black male majority. Silver by many accounts
appeared to treat NBA players like partners and Stern by the
observation of many appeared to treat NBA players like
subordinates…some would argue (like me) like slaves. Stern had a
reputation of running the NBA with an iron fist in which he stifled
freedom of speech and expression. Silver seems to be more
egalitarian in his approach in how he treats the players of the
NBA. Also, and more importantly, Silver appears to allow his black
players to express themselves socially and politically unlike any
era in NBA history, including and especially the era of David
Stern.
NBA superstars Lebron James, Steph Curry, Chris Paul, Kevin Durant
and coach Gregg Popovich alongside many other NBA figures seem to
be on the frontline of the racial resistance in America regarding
their social and political justice views alongside unapologetically
attacking the repressive and oppressive policies and opinions of
President Donald Trump. The question I ask on this episode is…would
this freedom of expression and speech happen under Stern?
Would Stern allow this freedom of political expression and
speech…or would he stifle it like he did in 1996 with Chris Jackson
(now Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf) in which Abdul-Rauf refused to come out of
the locker room during the national anthem because he felt the song
and the flag represented a “symbol of oppression?” Instead of
allowing Abdul-Rauf to express himself Stern fined him nearly
$32,000 and suspended him a game.
If Stern was still commissioner would he allow his players to
express themselves freely in this era of hyper racial
consciousness…or does he maintain his rules of restriction,
censorship and punishment? I dive into this hypothetical with
national scholar on race, sports and popular culture Dr. David
Leonard. He is a leading authority on race and sports in America
with most of his expertise focused on the issue of race and race
relations in the NBA. Leonard also wrote a book some years back
focused on Stern’s controversial leadership titled After Artest:
The NBA and the Assault on Blackness. You’re going to want to hear
what he has to say! Enjoy the show!!