There will be no NBA games played on election night in November. The league, however, is expected to have plenty to say the night before that when all 30 teams are featuring “election-based themed” activities. Given the league’s recent support for radical causes and candidates, these events could well be biased activities for the Left.
Outkick writer Mark Harris assumes as much, sarcastically writing today: “Surely each team’s theme will be unbiased and not at all driven by one specific political party or message. The NBA simply cannot help itself from being political.”
Here are five reasons why Harris is likely to be right on the money.
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So-called “voter suppression” is a key talking point of Democrats and NBA players (I.e, LeBron James) and coaches (I.e, Doc Rivers of the Los Angeles Clippers). James helped form a group that spent millions of dollars to combat “voter disenfranchisement in predominantly Black communities.”
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Anti-Republican rhetoric. Rivers called out former President Donald Trump, the Republican Party and the police for their roles in continuing a system of oppression that has murdered black people for centuries." Rivers also chastised Republicans for talking about fear.
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Abortion is a key election talking point of the Democrats and the NBA. In response to the Supreme Court’s overturning Roe v. Wade in June, on the votes of six justices appointed by Republican presidents, the NBA stated: ““The NBA and WNBA believe that women should be able to make their own decisions concerning their health and future, and we believe that freedom should be protected. We will continue to advocate for gender and health equity, including ensuring our employees have access to reproductive health care, regardless of their location.”
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Race is a constant talking point of Democrats and the NBA. The 2020 season that finished in the Florida bubble was wrapped in Black Lives Matter propaganda. Republican hater and coach of the San Antonio Spurs Gregg Popovich said race is the "elephant in the room in our country." Democrats constantly call Republicans racists.
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Partisan politics. The NBA and Trump were at war during his four years in office. Barack Obama was then the de facto president of the NBA. A championship Warriors team visited Obama in Washington instead of doing a White House celebration.
Prior to that, James did a PSA on Obamacare. He and Obama (seen yukking it up together in the White House in 2013) also teamed up to increase the turnout of black voters who overwhelmingly support Democrat candidates. James is the face of the NBA, and he campaigned for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Joe Biden in 2020. Karen Finney, a Democratic political strategist, called James’ activities on behalf of left-wing candidates “huge.”
The NBA can dress up the pre-election night as a non-partisan event all it wants, but that will do little to change the public perception that this league leans heavily to the Left politically.
