For years, the NBA has been the most progressive of the four major sports leagues when it comes to embracing the LGBT equality. When Jason Collins signed with the Brooklyn Nets in 2014, they became the first league to have an openly gay active player, and since then, commissioner Adam Silver has continued to make inclusion a priority. He came down hard on Rajon Rondo this season, suspending him for one game for directing a homophobic slur at referee Bill Kennedy.
Now, in honor of Pride Month, the NBA has partnered with TeeSpring to create a line of shirts that feature rainbow-colored renderings of each team’s logo.
They’re pretty awesome shirts — the rainbow goes great against the black background, and they’re reasonably priced at $25 each. The ones without letters or words are particularly sweet, like this Charlotte Hornets one:
GLSEN executive director Dr. Eliza Byard released a statement about the shirts:
Support from professional sports for LGBT people has been one of the biggest cultural developments of the past five years, and the NBA has consistently led the way. Thank you, NBA and Teespring, for this generous support, and for standing with your LGBT fans, LGBT youth, and GLSEN with these Pride-themed shirts. For LGBT fans and players alike, visibility and inclusion in the family of sports remains a key goal. The entire GLSEN family is proud of our longstanding partnership with the NBA, and excited about all of the work we are doing together to make K-12 physical education and athletics – and all of K-12 education – more inclusive and welcoming of LGBT students.”
Take a look at more of them below:
