Damian Lillard is upset with the way many have treated athlete protests in recent weeks and leading into the NBA season. The Portland Trail Blazers star likened the silencing of athlete protests to “slavery” in comments he made on a local interview show last week.
Lillard, who is primed for a big fall with a new shoe release and an album dropping on the same day in addition to another season with the Trail Blazers, isn’t happy with some of the discord around athlete protests and how there are many fans (and the president) who have called for athletes to protest “on their own time” rather than on the field or court.
Lillard said not wanting athletes “stand for anything” while wearing an NBA or NFL jersey means only caring about the athletic talents of its players, a move he compared to the slave trade.
Oregon Public Broadcasting host Dave Miller asked Lillard what it felt like when players were told to “just play the game” during a Think Out Loud segment that aired Thursday.
“Looking at it now, how they just want us to go out and play basketball and you know, ‘put that jersey on and be proud’ and ‘don’t represent anything,’ ‘don’t stand for anything,’ ‘don’t have an opinion, just be respectful’ and ‘go out there and play for me’—it makes me think about kind of the way it was with slavery, when it was, they want the young, strong and you know, ‘His arms are long and he’s got big calves.’ It reminds me of that,” Lillard told OPB.
“They want us to go out and do what we’re built to do. We’re good athletes; we’re physically strong; we’re very capable…They don’t want to know what we think; they don’t care how we feel about something. It’s just ‘Go out there and do what your job is.'”
The common refrain from those who are against athletes protesting is that they should indeed go out there and do their jobs. But when you consider his words it’s easy to understand why Lillard’s comparison is valid in his mind. To be silenced like this means Lillard feels he’s only valued for his athletic ability. It can be dehumanizing to be regarded in that way, and that’s where his frustration comes from.
The interview was conducted prior to Adam Silver’s comments at the NBA’s Board of Governors meeting and the memo sent out reminding teams of the league’s anthem policy. Those comments sparked plenty of debate and players like J.R. Smith even tweeted about it over the weekend, though no team has done any sort of protest in preseason thus far.
Whether that changes on opening night is tough to say, but it’s clear that athletes are tired of the “stick to sports” crowd.
