Podcast: The NBA officially announces its return in the midst of nationwide protests

The NBA will officially announce its return Thursday, as 22 teams will head to Orlando in July to complete the 2019-20 regular season. The “I Love Basketball” crew is naturally excited about the return of basketball, particularly to complete a season that still holds significant promise for the Lakers.

And yet, many of the NBA’s athletes are otherwise occupied at the moment, taking part in the protests against police brutality throughout the country and lending their voices on national platforms. Sabreena and Anthony discuss how the Lakers players, and others around the league, have risen to the moment, specifically how LeBron James defended Colin Kaepernick’s protest against Drew Brees’ comments Wednesday.

They then move on to how the NBA’s return can potentially serve to both spotlight or distract from the message of the protests, and how important it is that the players continue to use their platform, whether they are currently playing games or not. Finally, they pivot into the mechanics of the restart plan itself, including how many different parties the NBA had to try to appease with the logistics as well as the safety concerns still present. They also touch on the discussions the league has had with regards to providing homecourt advantage on a neutral site.

You can listen to the full episode below, and to make sure you never miss a single one, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast feed on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts.

You can also follow ours hosts on Twitter at @sabreenajm and @AnthonyIrwinLA.