When the Los Angeles Lakers resume the NBA season at Disney World in Orlando, Florida, they will look a little different. Not just because they have spend four months not playing NBA basketball — although that’s part of it — but also because many of them will be replacing the last names on their jerseys with social justice messages for the first four days of the NBA restart.
The NBA and National Basketball Players Association came to an agreement on a pre-approved list of terms for the Lakers and other players. As a refresher, Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated had the scoop on what those terms were:
Black Lives Matter; Say Their Names; Vote; I Can’t Breathe; Justice; Peace; Equality; Freedom; Enough; Power to the People; Justice Now; Say Her Name; Sí Se Puede (Yes We Can); Liberation; See Us; Hear Us; Respect Us; Love Us; Listen; Listen to Us; Stand Up; Ally; Anti-Racist; I Am A Man; Speak Up; How Many More; Group Economics; Education Reform; and Mentor.
Some members of the Lakers will choose terms off of this list. Others will not. We will keep a running tabulation of their choices — along with, when possible, links to a story with the reasoning behind their decision or a quote that explains it — on the list below.
LeBron James — James (No social justice message)
Anthony Davis — Davis (No social justice message)
JaVale McGee — Respect Us
Danny Green — How Many More
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope — Caldwell-Pope (No social justice message); a decision he explained a few weeks ago:
“I’m just going to stay with my name and use my voice as much as I can.”
Alex Caruso — Black Lives Matter
Dwight Howard — Howard (No social justice message)
Kyle Kuzma — Kuzma (No social justice message)
Rajon Rondo — Rondo (No social justice message)
Dion Waiters — Black Lives Matter
“With, everything that’s going on, I feel like this is a key moment in life right now for us to make a huge impact on and off the court. Just being able to keep letting everybody know what’s at hand, and how big it is. Just because basketball is back, you can’t forget about the most important thing that went on this year.”
J.R. Smith — Justice Now
Markieff Morris — Education Reform
Quinn Cook — Say Their Names
Jared Dudley — Dudley (No social justice message)
Talen Horton-Tucker — Black Lives Matter
Two-Way Players
Devontae Cacok — Justice Now
Kostas Antetokounmpo — Peace
For more Lakers talk, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast feed on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts. You can follow Harrison on Twitter at @hmfaigen.