How Black Women Athletes Paved The Way For The NBA Strike
Last week, the Milwaukee Bucks shocked the sports world when they decided not to play in their playoff game against the Orlando Magic, in protest of the police shooting of Jacob Blake. As other pro sports teams joined in the sit-out, it seemed as if the NBA season might come to a dramatic, unforeseen end that could have cost the league millions of dollars. And while the playoffs resumed days later, there was still a tangible outcome: The league says some of its arenas will be turned into voting locations, and it will form a social-justice coalition to help promote voting and advocate for criminal justice reform.
The wildcat strike was unprecedented for the NBA — but the world of professional basketball is no stranger to protesting for Black lives. And for years, WNBA players have been at the forefront of those protests, speaking out against police brutality and gun violence. In many ways, Maitreyi Anantharaman wrote in Slate, these women "made the NBA strike possible."
I talked with Amira Rose Davis, a professor of history and African American studies at Penn State and co-host of the podcast , about the history of activism by Black athletes and
