LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- The NBA and National Basketball Players Association released a joint statement Friday announcing that the
NBA playoffswill resume Saturday and that the league and its players will work together on several initiatives to promote voting access, combat social injustice and racial inequality, and advocate for police reform.
"These commitments follow months of close collaboration around designing a safe and healthy environment to restart the NBA season, providing a platform to promote social justice, as well as creating an NBA Foundation focused on economic empowerment in the Black community," NBA commissioner Adam Silver and NBPA executive director Michele Roberts said in the statement. "We look forward to the resumption of the playoffs and continuing to work together -- in Orlando and in all NBA team markets -- to push for meaningful and sustainable change."
Among the commitments announced to aid social issues is the immediate establishment of a social justice coalition -- with representation from players, coaches and governors -- that will cover a wide array of issues, including increased voting access, promoting civic engagement and advocating for "meaningful police and criminal justice reform."
In every NBA city where the league's franchise owns and controls its arena property, team owners will work with local officials to turn those arenas into voting locations for the 2020 general election, giving constituents a way to vote in person during the coronavirus pandemic. If that isn't possible, there will be an effort to use those facilities in other ways, including as sites to register voters and receive ballots.
The NBA also agreed to work with the players and with its broadcast partners to create advertising that will appear during each NBA playoff game to promote greater civic engagement in national and local elections, and to raise awareness about voting access.
