Last night, the Bucks lost their season opener against the Hornets, 107-96. It was a hard-fought loss, and the Bucks showed some positives for the fans to take away. But it was something that happened on the court before the first whistle even blew which made me proud as ever to be a Bucks fan.
When Christopher Porterfield took the court to sing the national anthem for the Bucks, he did so with a plain guitar sporting a single decoration: “BLACK LIVES MATTER” in giant block letters.
that's how to do the anthem @porterfieldcm, good call @Bucks#proud #blm pic.twitter.com/28EUmH0AqI
— Daniel Holter (@danielholter) October 27, 2016
When I saw this, I thought it was a great way to kick off the Bucks season with a clear social justice message. Then I settled in for Milwaukee’s first game of the season.
It wasn’t until I hear about what happened over in Philadelphia that I realized how proud I was to be a Bucks fan. Sevyn was preparing to start off the 76ers season with her own rendition of the national anthem, but the organization stopped her minutes before she was set to take the court. Why? Because she was wearing a “WE MATTER” jersey. She took to twitter to shortly explain this in a video:
Was suppose to sing the anthem at @sixers & @okcthunder game but mins b4 @sixers said I couldn't because I was wearing a "We Matter" jersey pic.twitter.com/wjoJN3rq0r
— Sevyn (@sevyn) October 27, 2016
Whoever made this decision for the Sixers should be ashamed of themselves. If a jersey simply claiming that the lives of black people matter is too political or controversial for their liking, perhaps they should look in the mirror and review their own beliefs. It should never be controversial to affirm that black lives do indeed matter, and the Bucks did the right thing by letting Porterfield make this statement during the national anthem.
If the backlash to Colin Kaepernick’s protest is any indication, some people will surely think that the national anthem is “not the right time” to make a statement like this. Again, I think the only way you could make that argument is if you think that saying black lives matter is somehow a controversial statement, and if that’s the case, why are you watching NBA games? Why are you comfortable watching overwhelmingly black players entertain you, yet the moment someone claims their (and other black people’s) lives matter you recoil?
The bottom line is that both the Bucks and the 76ers lost their season openers last night, and both teams will probably struggle to make the playoffs this season. However, the Bucks showed that they are an organization willing to support people who look like the majority of their players and a large segment of their fan base, while the Sixers chose to cater to racists. The only way they can begin to make up for this is by allowing Sevyn to take the court for the national anthem very soon, wearing her We Matter jersey.