1 The New School What’s wrong with the NBA Coronavirus narrative, and how it could be so much better! By Tania Gelin Staten Island, New York December 15, 2020 Global Pandemics in an Unequal world: Learning From Covid-19 Research Portfolio 1 Instructor: Sakiko Fukuda-Parr 2 What’s wrong with the NBA Coronavirus narrative, and how it could be so much better! Abstract Does the National Basketball Association as a professional sports league have a responsibility to create a proper corporate narrative to Blacks during the COVID crisis that continues well after the pandemic’s end? I think many Americans would argue yes. During a March 11, 2020 game between the Utah Jazz and the Oklahoma City Thunder, where one player was found to have contracted the virus, the league urged fans to follow CDC guidelines, and subsequently used coronavirus testing kits on NBA players. Nationwide, however, there was a shortage of kits. (Baird, Robert P, 2020) The justification on the use of testing kits in a league that is dominated by blacks stirred, in my mind, questions of responsibility and obligation on the part of players who are viewed as role models and activists. The league, however, lacked a proper narrative in its COVID response in three areas, 1. The association failed to acknowledge economic flaws that create poor outcomes for blacks. 2. The association did not have a narrative that was achievable for fans, and 3. The association failed to state their commitment in supporting players to create institutions specifically designed to tackle systemic poverty and health concerns in the Black community. That the NBA has more Black players than any professional sports league in the nation demonstrates that now is the time to expand the NBA’s reach, owning institutions in Black communities because it is not just about the pandemic, but so much more than the pandemic. Sports Commentator Scoop Jackson said, “The social and societal responsibility in sports goes beyond the athletes. Yet almost all the responsibility in sports, as far as activism goes, falls to the athlete.”1 This is extremely important to note because the narrative was not effective because it was not in touch with what low-income and poor blacks were going through on a daily basis during the pandemic. The NBA needs the assistance of players in producing the right narratives and outcomes for the black community because there is so much in social and societal determinants that affect black people, it is arguable that NBA ball players should be a part of the discussions to produce a narrative that is effective. Capitalism has historically discriminated against Blacks and so, intervention is needed to correct past wrongs to further avoid being left behind in times of crisis. (Morrison and Reeves, 2020) During the pandemic, many questioned the integrity of government-run institutions and a trend emerged where many Americans placed their faith in corporations. The NBA has made a pledge to give $300 million to support Black communities and with proper planning a lot can been done with that money. Institution-building is so much more than creating basketball camps or giving sneakers to basketball teams. (Yyoungmisuk, Ohm, 2020) It is about intervention to change outcomes in a way that is lasting. Much of this paper will focus on the NBA’s response narrative to the COVID-19 pandemic so that death tolls like those experienced by Blacks during the pandemic are avoided. Keywords: NBA, healthcare, coronavirus, inequality, corporations, politics, communities, Blacks 1 Jackson, Scoop, 2020, The game is not a game p. 194 3 1. The incident It was a day that will go down in sports history. On March 11, 2020 at Oklahoma City’s Chesapeake Energy Arena fans pack the stadium to watch their home team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, play against the Utah Jazz. One of the ESPN announcers mentioned that Rudy Gobert, the Utah Jazz’s star player, is out with an illness. Oklahoma fans were particularly energized that Gobert was not present. The announcers felt that Oklahoma was guaranteed an easy win because of Gobert’s absence. With both teams having completed their warm-ups and the starting line-ups’ announcement being made, players and fans were eager for the start of the game. In a strange turn of events, city officials and NBA officials and later, NBA officials and team coaches held private discussions on the court, while the crowd waited, standing on their feet in a failed attempt to usher in the game. Thirty minutes passed before the players were told to return to their locker rooms. Soon after, an announcement is made that the game had been postponed. The crowd began to boo. We later learned that Gobert had tested positive for the coronavirus and that the NBA had suspended all games until further notice. 2Ironically, the day the announcement was made, the World Health Organization had declared the novel coronavirus a global pandemic. Jazz-Thunder postponed just before tip-off, There will be those who claim that the March 11 shut down of the NBA season by Commissioner Adam Silver was an appropriate decision, given Gobert’s diagnosis. Earlier during a press conference, Gobert had jokingly touched microphones, table and chair to poke fun at the Coronavirus. It is not clear whether a teammate had given Gobert the virus or whether Gobert had given the virus to his teammate. The NBA choose to highlight the situation that happened with Gobert as an example for everyday Americans to take seriously the guidelines set by the CDC. Kurt Badenhausen writer for Forbes online said in a March 16 article for Sports Money that controversy arose when the NBA used much of the Oklahoma state coronavirus testing kits to test 58 persons in the entourage of the Utah Jazz. The entire incident generated negative press. In the following days, entire NBA teams were tested, while there were a limited number of kits available in the US. Media frenzy soon followed as regular Americans could not do the same.3 The NBA’s access to the testing kits through the assistance of private medical firms and concierge doctors was well publicized in the press. (Sullivan, Paul, 2020), (Kornfield, Meryl and Tate, Julie, 2020) Many players did not meet the criteria for getting tested. The NBA and its ball players have great wealth and as such, a narrative should have been made addressing how policy has played a part in many areas affecting blacks, including health, acknowledging the limitations of blacks as a race and making the commitment to create structures that will reduce inequality over time. The focus should not have been making a show of accessing testing kits 2 Jazz-Thunder postponed just before tip-off | 2019-20 Espn.com “NBA Highlights on ESPN”, March 11, 2020 3 Bromberg, Nick, 2020, “Reporter asks Trump why NBA players were prioritized with testing”, CNN 4 that others cannot obtain, which according to Schwartz, an author and reporter at The New York Times creates anger many. Although the NBA did donate money and supplies in the fight against COVID, the association’s message during COVID was one that could not be followed. In addition to a lack of testing kits, USA Today Writers Kelly Tyko, Jessica Guynn and Mike Snider discussed “panic buying” in a February 28, 2020 article in USA Today, detailing how shoppers went into a buying frenzy, limited the supply of masks, gloves and hand sanitizer online and on the shelves. Using creative methods for keeping safe and frequent hand washing as well as social distancing were not publicized by the press as measures taken by the NBA to remain safe. The message was getting tested, even with a limited number of testing kits was taking the measures to remain safe. While admired, NBA players are seen as the elite in addition to being perceived as positive actors for individuals who have no paternal role models. This did nothing to make people realize the seriousness of COVID-19, at least not in a way they could imitate. According to CNBC’s Tom Huddleston Jr., October 22, 2019, the average NBA sports player makes 7.7 million dollars a season. The players also have a union the National Basketball Players Association, which according to the union’s website, provides the players with stellar health benefits to keep them in top shape. The infrastructure of the association, the comradery between the men who play the sport and the wealth of the men themselves makes them admired among many Blacks. All said, the NBA’s input, when appropriately directed, can create immediate action and lay the foundations for fostering positive health outcomes, while also reducing inequality within the Black community. The NBA has good intentions and is fully capable of helping the black community but it falls short from missteps in planning, like those expressed above. 2. Pandemic outbreak and issues of fairness In March, the CDC published an alert for the Coronavirus on its Website. In the bulletin, the agency detailed who to prioritize for Covid-19 tests due to the shortage of testing kits. At the time, those persons included, 1. “Hospitalized patients who have signs and symptoms compatible with COVID-19 in order to inform decisions related to infection control.” 2. “Other symptomatic individuals such as, older adults (age 65 +) and individuals with chronic medical conditions and/or an immune compromised state that may put them at 5 higher risk for poor outcomes (e.g., diabetes, heart disease, receiving immunosuppressive medications, chronic lung disease, chronic kidney disease). 3. “Any persons including healthcare personnel, who within 14 days of symptom onset had close contact with a suspect or laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 patient, or who have a history of travel from affected geographic areas within 14 days of their symptom onset.