Los Angeles • Bill Russell didn’t have to say anything to be heard.
The 84-year-old, 11-time NBA champion sat in the front row of the Staples Center press room as league commissioner Adam Silver fielded a question about a conservative talk show hosts comments that two high-profile stars should “shut up and dribble.”
It was unclear if Silver had asked Russell to be in the room for his annual address at All-Star weekend. But it certainly lended gravitas to the commissioner’s response: He pointed out that Russell was the NBA MVP in 1963, again when the All-Star Game was in Los Angeles. That same year, Russell was among those standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial as Martin Luther King Jr., when he told the world that he had a dream.
“So to me, there is this direct through line from players like Bill Russell, here roughly 55 years ago, to LeBron [James] and Kevin Durant speaking out today on issues that are important to them,” Silver said. “The fact is that these players are not just basketball players, they’re multi-dimensional, they care about their communities, and they care about what’s happening in our country.”
Russell nodded. The point was made.
Black athletes have been hearing a version of “shut up and dribble” for years, and many of the NBA’s most revered figures have found a way to ignore it.
The difference between the league in the 1960s and now is that James and Durant, who were the subject of Fox News show host Laura Ingraham’s rant last week, are more empowered to fire back. And they, and many of the other All-Stars in town this weekend, didn’t hesitate to use their podiums.
Former basketball players, from left, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jerry West and Bill Russell watch during the first half of an NBA All-Star basketball game, Sunday, Feb. 18, 2018, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
James, 33, touched on all manner of issues, including his pride in the movie Black Panther to his anxiety over a school shooting in Florida. At least 100 media members crunched in around him to listen.
“I will not just shut up and dribble,” James said at one point. “I get to sit up here and talk about what’s really important.”
Ingraham was initially provoked by a video segment on James’ website called “Uninterrupted,” in which James said President Donald Trump “doesn’t give a f---” about the people. Durant added a metaphor in which he said Trump is a “coach” ill-suited to lead the United States.
Both have previously clashed with Trump, who notably rescinded a White House invitation for the Golden State Warriors after they acknowledged they were considering skipping the visit over political differences.
James said he found it curious that she called players out specifically. Other white NBA figures, such as coaches Gregg Popovich and Steve Kerr, have been regularly critical of Trump.
“There’s been many people that aren’t African American that spoke upon the same issues I spoke upon,” he said. “[Fox News] didn’t say anything to them.”
Ingraham specifically attacked James’ decision to go pro at 18, saying his lack of education contributed to his views. But that seemed to ignore the fact that James is a multi-millionaire, philanthropist and businessman outside of his considerable on-court exploits.
“Just because they have enormous opportunity in the way maybe Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg did to create enormous wealth for themselves and their families certainly doesn’t mean they don’t care about an education,” Silver said. “[The comment] frustrates me.”
It frustrated players as well, who universally stood behind James and Durant. And the more they spoke, the more flippant the Ingraham comments seemed.
“We’re a part of what’s going on this world, what’s going on in this society, just as much as anybody else,” said Paul George. “We’re fathers. We’re sons. We’re brothers. We’ve got family to look after. We’re connected as deeply in this as anybody else is. For someone to go out and say, `Stick to dribbling a basketball,′ that’s pretty ignorant.”
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