I watched game three of the NBA finals and saw the part-owner of the Golden State Warriors, Mark Stevens, push Kyle Lowry.  It was terrible, offensive and ridiculous.  Terrible in that it was completely unnecessary – Stevens was not involved in the play and gratuitously pushed Lowry from two seats away.  Offensive in that it smacked of white elite entitlement – the view that as a rich white man he was entitled to do whatever he wanted, including putting his hands on another man.  It also very much conveyed a view that these overwhelmingly Black NBA players were simply his chattel, and could be handled and treated as such.  And it was ridiculous in that Mark Stevens would never, ever, evah – think about putting his hands on a six foot tall, strong and athletic Black man in any other context.

The outcry was immediate, universal and justified.  Whether LeBron’s tweet that his entitlement and privilege were not welcome, to the Warriors’ coaches and players affirmatively apologizing to Lowry, to the questions on social media about the imbalance in reactions.  Trust and believe that if Lowry had shoved him back (or worse) as he had every right to do, there would have been an even bigger outcry.  And if we flip the script and it was Lowry walking into Stevens’ workplace and putting hands on HIM – there would have been a felony arrest.  Pure and simple.

I am glad the reaction was what it was.  Stevens was fined a half a million dollars and banned from attending all NBA games through the 2019-20 playoffs.  NBA Commissioner Adam Silver came down hard, as he should have,

But it made me think, what if this had been the NFL?  In the NBA the Players are far more empowered than in the NFL.  They drive decisions and they are, very literally, the face of the league and its success.  The NBA owners recognize this and partner with them.  Coaches and league officials have stood with players on issues such as Black Lives Matter and the right to individually protest.  There has even been a movement where several teams have moved away from the term “owner” – with all of its connotations and history – and replaced it with “investor.”

This stands in stark contrast to the NFL and its view that players should be seen and not heard, where owners threatened jobs of those who chose to protest police brutality, and where Colin Kaepernick was blackballed for two years for daring to speak out.  The “owner” mentality remains far to pervasive – and far to literal – in the NFL.  I can’t help but think that had an NFL owner shoved a player, not much would be done.  Limited fine, no suspension and perhaps not even an apology.  It’s a stark contrast, and highlights just how far behind the NFL remains.