With the NBA picking things back up in Orlando, the league gave players the choice of adding a message on the back of their jerseys in addition to their last names. With the ongoing tension surrounding racial injustice throughout the United States, Brooklyn Nets swingman Joe Harris wanted to send a clear message upon making his way down to the NBA bubble—equality for all.
“It’s all about support at the end of the day,” Harris told ClutchPoints on Saturday afternoon of his decision to sport “Equality” on the back of his jersey during the NBA restart. “By no means is anybody trying to be political here. It is a human rights thing. The majority of my teammates and in this profession are black and have been mistreated for a long time and it has reached a reckoning point and, for me, the message that I [am] trying to send is that it is not about any one gender, religion, ethnicity or being above anybody else and not below anybody else either. Everyone just wants equality at the end of the day, a level of respect.
“For me it is a pretty simple thing that everybody can do and it’s all about giving people the same amount of respect regardless of any sort of orientation, ethnicity, race, religion, background, whatever. It’s all about equality and respect at the end of the day.”
It is also worth noting that Harris’ back-up choice to “Equality” was “Vote” as the seasoned sharpshooter thoroughly understands the importance of NBA players—and American citizens in general—getting out there to vote in a presidential election year.
“Everybody has their right to vote,” Harris added, “but we should also just be cognizant of voting. I think there’s a stat that [the league] told us the other day where only like 20 percent of guys in the NBA voted in the last election. We obviously like to voice our opinion on a lot of matters but we also need to back it up and make sure that we are doing our part and encouraging others to do theirs to enact real change.”
Harris and the No.7 seed Nets will now take on the No. 2 seed Toronto Raptors in the first round of the postseason with Game 1 scheduled for Monday.
Follow Us
Subscribe