The coronavirus pandemic has had an impact on American life, from sports to education to the economy and everything in between.
Of course, the NBA community has been directly impacted, with players from multiple teams contracting the virus over the course of the past few weeks. Many players and coaches have taken to social media, urging fans and common citizens to remain indoors and practice common sanitation procedures throughout the day.
But some college kids are choosing to ignore the seriousness of the pandemic. The timing coincided with Spring Break for a number of schools, sending droves of students to warm weather cities.
CBS aired a segment last week in which students on break in the Miami area appeared to dismiss the pandemic, prioritizing selfish desires over public welfare.
Longtime Miami Heat veteran Udonis Haslem thinks this attitude is disgraceful. Haslem called out “Spring Breakers” for being privileged in a piece for The Players' Tribune:
It’s funny — these kids fly down to places like South Beach for a couple days to party, and they think that’s Miami. But they’ve never seen the real Miami. They’ve never been to Liberty City. They’ve never seen the side of this city that’s living check to check. The side of this city that’s surviving meal to meal.
And let me just tell you something, man — there’s a Liberty City in every city. It’s regular people, with regular struggles. And I don’t know how I can get everyone to listen, but I say this from the bottom of my heart: The people growing up in the real Miami? They’re as vulnerable during this crisis as anybody.
If anyone knows about the people and culture of Miami, it is Haslem, who has been with the Heat since 2003.
Perhaps this kind of perspective will be a rallying point for the youth around the country to put aside superficial desires in an effort to curb the spread and help the country heal.
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