NBA Hall of Famer Wayne Embry Urges NBA to Show Support for BLM Protests by Playing

(Photo : Washington Wizards via REUTERS )
Players from the Washington Wizards and Washington Mystics basketball teams take part in a demonstration to mark Juneteenth, which commemorates the end of slavery in Texas, two years after the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves elsewhere in the United States, amid nationwide protests against racial inequality, in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 19, 2020 in this still image taken from social media video.

First African-American general manager in professional sports and NBA Hall of Famer, Wayne Embry shared that players should capitalize on their voices in protesting and supporting the Black Lives Matter movement aside from playing.

According to ESPN, the NBA Hall of Famer mentioned that since then he has been a proponent of sports being a model of a greater society as it is where different backgrounds and different cultures work towards a common goal.

He also encouraged every player to play and continue to become a model.

Embry admitted that he is a supporter of the First Amendment because everyone has the right to protest and be vocal.

He also reminded that players should never just dribble and just shut up because for him if you believe in the constitution, you are a patriot and that makes you entitled to voice out whatever you want.

Chat Sports also reported that the 83-year-old Hall of Famer was reminded by the recent protests of the spring of 1968 wherein Embry along with his teammates in Boston Celtics were in Philadelphia for the 1st game of the playoff series, which is also the day of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Embry also shared that because of the tragic incident, he and his teammates wanted to boycott the game that specific night.

The five-time All-Star and Toronto Raptors' senior adviser since 2004 shared that the country was going to be thrown into turmoil and there will be riots prompting players to be out of focus and it will affect us all.

Embry detailed that night before the game, they had a meeting but only some white players wanted to play while most of the black players did not. He also mentioned that Red Auerbach approached them and said that Commissioner that time J. Walter Kennedy is already in the talks with mayors of both cities wherein they pointed out that it is a wise decision if they play because of the interest in the game and it will force people to stay home and watch it but they had a debate, but the final decision was based on Dr. King's legacy as he did not want to see the violence that is why they played.

That first match in the playoffs, Celtics came out victorious but after that the NBA had a 4-day shut down until Dr. King had been buried.

The Hall of Famer also mentioned that they are mourning as they are concerned about what is going to happen but he stated that things only got calm after the funeral but that time instead of protesting communities moved to mourn.

The National Civil Rights Museum Sports Legacy Award winner, Embry broke ground in 1972 after becoming the GM of the Milwaukee Bucks.

Embry who is also a leader of the efforts of the NBA to diversify leadership believes that the league has displayed the good history of inclusion.

In the world of sports, the NBA has been at the forefront in diversity in the sports scene and it does not mean that we cannot move further, Embry added.