How the NBA is addressing mental health, social justice concerns of players for the restart
Daily NewsJun 28, 2020
But ahead of the NBA's restart in
While Oklahoma City's
"Guys are making sacrifices coming, so you will be away from your family probably for a period of time," Paul said. "There's so many different things that come up."
While the thousands of people who will be headed to the NBA's campus next month will be facing similar challenges, the players on the 22 teams were most critical to producing the on-court product for the return from hiatus. And convincing the
The agreement of the NBA and NBPA officially announced Friday was the biggest step so far in actually realizing the restart, but some players have still voiced some skepticism about it and a small number has decide to sit out the rest of the season completely. Aside from the safety issues related to COVID-19, which the NBA will address with physical distancing, testing and masks among other measures, Paul said the mental drain of being locked down in
"I think mental health is the biggest thing that a lot of us players think of first, right, because although a lot of us always look like we're all together or that we're fine, which most people do, that's not always the case," Paul said. "Especially coming out of quarantine and a lot of us being in situations that we've never been in before, and now we're going into an even tougher situation."
Mental health has been a hot topic in the NBA in recent seasons as stars such as
The NBA will have mental health resources available, provided largely virtually by teams, but also with a few in-person professionals, commissioner
"We recognize that when you bring in mainly players, coaches, referees to a campus environment, it could also be isolating in different ways," Silver said. "Because while they'll have each other, we and the
Families will be able to join players after the first round of the playoffs, which should take place in August, but strict quarantine protocols will be in place.
The other major issue the NBA and NBPA had to work on was social justice commitments, which have been tacitly supported by Silver and the NBA for years. Players have taken a vocal role in demonstrations and various social media displays after nationwide uproar following the death of
"Us players had conversations with each other, and one of the biggest things to tell you the truth was teams wanted to know where their governors stood on the situation," Paul said. "There's been a lot of hard conversations that have had to be had, and I think that was huge for players, right? For players, we want to know how someone feels, especially if you're putting their jersey on."
There haven't been many details yet about how exactly the league will invest in these causes, but the restart seems likely to feature players speaking out against racial inequities, especially those relating to police violence. Silver also acknowledged the league wants to improve its diversity in front offices, coaching staffs and business sides of its operations.
That has been one of the areas where players such as
"The
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