USA Basketball Alumni Want Everyone to Vote
| USA Basketball is dedicated to encouraging and promoting voting. Election day is fast approaching, and USA Basketball alumni are encouraging everyone to vote. Check out a few of the initiatives, and find more information on USAB.com. |
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After the NBA and the WNBA stopped play in the wake of the Jacob Blake shooting in August, one of the resulting social justice initiatives agreed upon from the NBA and NBPA was to convert NBA arenas into voting sites for the 2020 presidential election. Twenty arenas are expected to serve as centers for voting on Nov. 3, early voting, voting registration or ballot drop-off locations.
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Three-time Olympic medalist LeBron James and a group of Black athletes and entertainers formed a group called More Than a Vote (morethanavote.org) aimed at inspiring African Americans to register and vote this November. “Because of everything that’s going on, people are finally starting to listen to us — we feel like we’re finally getting a foot in the door, James said in a phone interview with the New York Times. “How long is up to us. We don’t know. But we feel like we’re getting some ears and some attention, and this is the time for us to finally make a difference.”
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Renee Montgomery, who has played on five USA Basketball teams, chose to opt out of the 2020 WNBA season and focus on activism and voting, including the Yahoo Sports Voting Playbook.
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Olympic gold medalist Chris Bosh wrote an article for The Players' Tribune called “Let Them Vote.” He supported an idea that came from student-athletes that the NCAA formally declare all student-athletes and coaches be given the day off on election day, so they have time to vote. The NCAA Division I Council on Sept. 16 approved the measure.
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Eight-time USA Basketball gold medalist Breanna Stewart has been using her platform, including during the lead up to capturing the 2020 WNBA title, to promote voting. She told the New York Times, “Yeah, we’re professional athletes. But we still have our voices, and we still have our opinions, and we have our platforms. It shouldn’t be looked at as something that’s outside of ourselves to speak up on social issues and use our voice where it is needed to be a voice for the voiceless.”
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Bradley Beal, a two-time gold medalist with the USA junior national team, current member of the USA Men’s National Team and Washington Wizards All-Star guard, spoke out about becoming a first-time voter in 2020 and has spoken to the public about the importance of voting.
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Natasha Cloud, who participated in the 2020 USA Basketball 3x3 Olympic Qualifying training camp, opted out of the 2020 WNBA season to work for social justice. She has partnered with When We All Vote to drive voter registration and is active in More Than a Vote.
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Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum not only are Boston Celtics teammates, but both played on the 2019 USA World Cup Team, in addition to gold medals won as members of USA junior national teams. Brown and Tatum feature in the NBPA’s PSA that was release in conjunction with Black Players for Change, and the video also includes USA Basketball Olympic gold medalist Andre Iguodala, and USA junior national team gold medalist Austin Rivers, alongside MLS athletes.
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Olympic and World Cup gold medalist Shaquille O’Neal and three-time USA junior national team gold medalist Jayson Tatum helped launch the #MyStartingFive Challenge on social media, which has participants nominate five people to register and pledge to vote and is a campaign by Michelle Obama’s voting initiative, When We All Vote.
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