The 2020 NBA player boycott fused sports and politics into progress

Evidence

The modern case of American football player Colin Kaepernick, who took a knee to stand up for racial justice, testifies to the indelible impact of Ali’s message and to the transformative effect that sports, and athletes told to “shut up and play,” can have on the world if they speak up. So impactful that, during moments of profound change, sports and politics can blur into one undeniable force for progress. This force took center stage at the 2020 NBA playoffs, when a historic player-led boycott pierced the bubble that protected the athletes from a virus and the myth that racism does not penetrate into their lives. — Khaled A. Beydoun, The New Crusades_ Islamophobia and the…, 1059

Categorization

• SEED: The 2020 NBA bubble boycott as a case study of athletes refusing ‘shut up and play’ — could extend the Ali lineage chapter into a standalone essay.