The Lakers’ message is clear, though its presentation has raised concerns.
The entire Los Angeles Lakers roster evidenced up to Game 1 of their playoff serials against the Portland Trail Blazers wearing coinciding hats. Modeled after the atrocious colour MAGA hats of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, they illustrate a very different message: “Make America arrest the police who slaughtered Breonna Taylor.”
— Los Angeles Lakers (@ Lakers) August 18, 2020
Jared Dudley as well pic.twitter.com/ 31 mPt8 8Yvk
— Projection screen& Roll (@ LakersSBN) August 18, 2020
Police fatally shot Taylor on March 11 after breaking into her home in Louisville, Kentucky with a no-knock warrant. Although one of the three officers involved was fired, the others remain on the Louisville Police Department’s payroll, and nothing of them have been arrested.
Many of the Lakers have expended their media time in the NBA’s Orlando bubble to ask for justice for Taylor. LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Frank Vogel mouth extensively about the issue during the scrimmage phase of the organization restart, which you can watch here.
Dwight Howard, who considered opting out of the season with concerns that it would agitate from social right work off the court, also has committed media experience to discussing Taylor and speaking out against police savagery.
But while it’s clear that these players are wearing these hats to support the pursuit of justice for Taylor’s case, the move has also been met with some criticism. Merchandise featuring Taylor’s name has brought us a matter of how vendors are profiting off of her demise. And while the word “Arrest the policemen who killed Breonna Taylor” has helped the world learn her name and floor, it’s likewise been treated by numerous as a punchline to use in memes. Understandably, this has raised concerns that the meme-fication of her instance has agitated from the definite expects of protesters asking an outcome to patrol brutality.
That tell me anything, many of these participates are also taking other paces in the course of carrying out racial justice in addition to wearing these hats. LeBron James recently participated pressures with other NBA and WNBA stars to create the More Than a Vote party. He’s seeking to raise awareness about how systemic intolerance enforces voter elimination while also providing people with resources to register to vote.
This all comes during a season when numerous NBA participates — and players of all types — have made a stronger commitment to speaking explicitly about issues of social right. Between these hats, kneeling before competitions, and wearing t-shirts that piece personal statements about justice, participates are using their big scaffolds on a scale that we’ve never seen before.
Read more: sbnation.com
