In the dictionary, the definition of an athlete is pretty bland. It usually contains some version of “someone who is proficient or gifted in sports, exercise or physical contests.” But in 2020, we’ve seen so many athletes use their voice for social change and to fight for racial equality. Athletes in the WNBA and NBA are not new to this, many having spoken out for a long time now. Colin Kapernick kneeled in the NFL four years ago, and more have followed in his footsteps, creating a modern wave of politically active athletes. 

 

Most sports fans will remember when Lauren Ingraham told LeBron and his fellow athletes to “shut up and dribble.” She invoked the idea that athletes do not get paid to talk about politics, have feelings or speak their minds. They simply exist to entertain the masses. In this definition, athletes are not human, they are more machine, lifeless, essentially non-existent off the court, and void of emotion. This can be seen as the invisible definition that many subscribe to beyond what is written in the dictionary. 

 

In 2020, a seemingly endless year of sad, unfortunate and unacceptable events, athletes found themselves at the forefront of the social justice movement for racial equality. It’s in this moment that I truly think the common dictionary definition ceased to properly define athletes, as they have showed us by their actions.

 

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In March of 2020, the NBA shut down due to the coronavirus, and the WNBA’s season was postponed. After months of navigating the pandemic, both leagues finally declared the restarts of their seasons, having to confine the players to “bubbles” down in Florida in order to remain safe. Just before the leagues were set to start, George Floyd was killed by a police officer in Minneapolis, MN, and attention was brought to two other disturbing acts of racial violence, one being the killing of Breonna Taylor, the other being the killing of Ahmaud Arbery. 

 

Their killings caused weeks and weeks of protests all around the country, and in the midst of the conversations being had, the overwhelming emotions being shared and the vitriolic push back from the orange sack of shit in the white house and his supporters, WNBA and NBA players had a lot on their minds when it came time to decide whether or not to return to basketball, a kind of “normalcy” that everyone craved in 2020.  

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Players voiced their concerns, like Kyrie Irving, saying that returning to basketball would steal the spotlight from the important protests happening, and give white America an excuse to focus on something less serious. Others, like Natasha Cloud, couldn’t play knowing that their people were out in the streets fighting for change and they weren’t with them. Many in sports media criticized those thinking of sitting out for “political reasons,” arguing that those with a platform should use it to champion change. In the end, the vast majority of WNBA and NBA players chose to report to the bubbles, with the thinking that they would use this moment to call out the injustices happening around America and not let society go back to normal.

 

The WNBA’s players have been a leaders for social justice for a while, with the best player of recent time, Maya Moore, retiring early to focus on freeing a wrongfully convicted man from prison. Their commissioner, Cathy Engelbert, doesn't skirt the problems either, stating in the press release announcing the league’s return, “The WNBA opposes racism in all its forms, and George Floyd and Breonna Taylor are the latest names in a list of countless others who have been subject to police brutality that stems from the systemic oppression of Black Lives in America, and it is our collective responsibility to use our platforms to enact change.”  

 

WNBA Players wore “Black Lives Matter” warm-ups and changed the names on the back of their jerseys to those who had died from police violence. In their press conferences, they spoke on the issues outside the bubble, instead of what happened on the court. And their NBA counter parts followed suit, with several players simply answering, “Arrest the cops that killed Breonna Taylor” to any question asked of them. During the national anthem, virtually everyone kneeled, emulating Colin Kaepernick’s form of protest

that got him blackballed from the NFL, with no repercussion from either commissioner.