Silver: Trump's immigration comments 'an impetus to continue pushing forward'
President Donald Trump's reportedly incendiary comments about immigration aren't going to stop the NBA from driving social change. In fact, they serve as both a reminder of problems that persist and motivation for America's most progressive pro sports league to keep pushing.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver and NBPA executive director Michele Roberts went on a tour Sunday of the National Civil Rights Museum on the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s death.
Afterward, Silver was asked about Trump allegedly referring to Haiti and some African nations as "shithole countries."
"I think for both Michele and me, it is a reminder and an impetus to continue pushing forward with the kind of things that we can do together as a league," Silver told ESPN's Ohm Youngmisuk.
"Sports continue to be a unique opportunity to unite people and it is a place where there is a rare sense of equality. Certainly we are proud that within the NBA you are judged by your performance on the floor, regardless of your background, nationality or ethnicity. ... To me, it is also reinforcement of how important it is that we stay the course in terms of the programs that this league has been operating for decades and new programs like NBA Voices that we are beginning this week."
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On MLK Day, the league will launch NBA Voices, a new interactive website aimed to "address social injustice, promote inclusion, uplift voices and bridge divides in our communities."
It's the latest of many initiatives the NBA has organized since LeBron James, Chris Paul, Dwyane Wade, and Carmelo Anthony issued a call to action at the 2016 ESPYS. Since then, players and teams around the Association have executed more than 200 programs aimed at bringing people - in many cases, citizens and police - together and making communities safer.
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Silver also threw support behind Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri, who was born in Nigeria and took exception to Trump's comments.
"I certainly understand how upset he is as an immigrant to this country and Canada," the commissioner said. "I think for him, someone who does so much in his daily life to improve the life of Africans through his personal foundation, through our Basketball without Borders program, it is discouraging. But Masai will not in any way be deterred from the work he is doing just as the league won't be."