Last night was huge for the NBA as it marked the return of basketball. There were two games on Thursday night including the Utah Jazz playing against the New Orleans Pelicans, as well as the Los Angeles Lakers taking on the Clippers. Both games were incredibly close, with the Jazz and Lakers coming away victorious. If you were watching on TV, then you probably noticed how many players wore social justice messages on their jerseys, while also kneeling for the anthem.
This was all an effort to bring social justice issues to light and after their big win, Lakers superstar LeBron James spoke on what it was like kneeling in solidarity. As he explained, Colin Kaepernick was a major influence behind it.
"I hope we continue to make Kap proud. Every single day I hope I make him proud on how I live my life, not only on the basketball floor, but off the floor," LeBron said. "Kap was someone who stood up when times weren't comfortable, when people didn't understand, people refused to listen to what he was saying. If you go back and go look at any of his postgame interviews when he was talking about why he was kneeling, it had absolutely nothing to do with the flag. It had absolutely nothing to do with the soldiers, the men and women that keep our land free."
Moving forward, LeBron and the Lakers are favorites to win it all and with everything that has happened within the last six months, they certainly have a lot to play for.