Michael Jordan Acts As Go-Between For Players & Owners

When the NBA shut down on Saturday the restart seemed to be up in the air for a 12-hour period. Players were understandably upset by the shooting of another unarmed black man by police and boycotted games on Wednesday and Thursday. The players came to a decision on Thursday to restart the season, but on the condition that the owners and NBA offices commit more resources to fight systematic racism and discrimination while promoting African American voter turnout.

According to journalism legend Jackie MacMullan, Charlotte Hornets owner and NBA legend Michael Jordan acted as the key communicator to both the players and the owners. “The owners held a virtual meeting Thursday morning, and two participants confirmed that Jordan — who serves as the NBA Labor Relations Committee chairman — was a voice of reason,” MacMullan wrote. “[He was] urging the other owners to allow the players to express their frustrations and concerns before offering any of their own solutions.”

There has been much skepticism about what the players actually want. The owners pledged $300 million to fight systematic racism before the bubble commenced, but the players decided to take a stand and say that just money is not enough and the owners have much more influence politically than the players do. Following these protests, many other sports leagues followed suit, including the WNBA and NFL, in a push to get more resources allocated towards the Black Lives Matter movement. Sports are expected to resume on Saturday, but it has been a historic week in sports and while the results of it are still unclear it won’t be a week that sports fans will soon forget.