Avery Bradley reportedly helped Kyrie Irving organize call to voice concerns over NBA season restart

As of Friday night, we know that multiple members of the Lakers joined the video conference call spearheaded by Kyrie Irving to voice their concerns over restarting the NBA season, and whether or not they would be better off stopping and focusing on advocating for social justice instead. We also know the names of two of the Lakers to join the call: Dwight Howard and Avery Bradley.

Howard was reportedly among a few players to say they’re considering sitting out the remainder of the season because of the threat of the coronavirus pandemic and social justice issues facing the country. It’s less clear what position Bradley took, but according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, he and Irving were the two players instrumental in organizing the call:

Bradley, the Lakers guard, was the second person to speak on the call after Irving and was vocal throughout, urging players to take a stand and utilize this moment to “play chess, not checkers,” those sources said... Irving and Bradley have led the communication efforts of this group.

It’s unclear what Bradley thinks is chess and what he thinks is checkers in this scenario, and it would be irresponsible to speculate. However, what we can take away from this is that there are now multiple Lakers to become vocal members of the debate over whether or not players should agree to finish the 2019-20 campaign.

Howard and Bradley gave their thoughts on the call, and while James didn’t join the conference, he did let it be known through strategic leaks that he believed that playing basketball wouldn’t detract from his attempts at advocacy and making a difference in the country. As the union continues to try and figure out if it’s going to work with the league to resume the season, which side of the fray various members of the Lakers end up on will be worth paying attention to. Stay tuned to Silver Screen and Roll for updates.

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