Report: NBA Will Allow Players to Replace Names on Jerseys with Social Justice Messages

When the NBA returns to action on July 30 in Orlando, Fla., the jerseys each player wears might look a little bit different.

According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, the NBA and NBPA are planning to allow players to put social justice messages on the backs of their jerseys in place of their last names.

It’s a small gesture, but it will likely mean a lot to players.

Multiple NBA players – including Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jaylen Brown and Tobias Harris – have been protesting across the country since George Floyd was murdered on May 25.

The NBA isn’t the first league to make this change, but it is the first American league to do so.

The Premier League in England returned to play earlier this month and replaced names on its jerseys with “Black Lives Matter.”

It’s still unknown if any NBA players will participate in the change or what they will change their names to. But the NBA did release the full schedule for the seeding games, which will begin on July 30 at Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports.