Jay-Z recently had a wide-ranging 35-minute sit-down interview with New York Times executive editor Dean Baquet. The two touched on everything from infidelity in Jay-Z’s marriage to Beyonce, to the state of rap music and even sports. One topic, in particular, was how professional athletes are handling their political activism.
The ‘national anthem protests’ in the NFL have been the lead topic all season long, hitting its peak after garnering attention from the president. Recently, the NFL agreed to help the players provide funds to organizations that will help address the issues of racial inequality around the United States. But as the player protests might come to an end, the message remains the same throughout. All people should be treated equally.
While the NFL has been relatively wild with their protests and dramatically unorganized, the NBA has been relatively uniform in their stance. NBA players aren’t permitted to openly protest during the national anthem, the players still come together and agree on a stance to fight for. Jay-Z, who recently showed support for Colin Kaepernick on SNL, took note of this and highlighted that the NBA is doing a much better job with political activism than the NFL.
Jay-Z had the following to say in his interview with the New York Times.
“I think because, first of all, it’s smaller numbers. It’s 12 people on a team. In football you have 53 people. So it’s harder to get 53 people thinking the same thing. It’s easier to have a conversation to get 12 people on the same page. For one. Two, [the NBA has] a great … they have a great commissioner who’s really open. And, you know, supports them. And you feel that. You feel like, you know, when you have someone behind you that really believe in what’s right, it motivates you to do the right thing. I think those two factors show why they’re much further along.”
