Players and officials from their union were invited to discuss matters with the Pope himself.
What We Know:
- A delegation of five NBA players and officials from the Players Association met with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Monday. They discussed their efforts in social justice and economic inequality.
- The Vatican invited the group last week to learn more about how they’ve handled political issues in America like racial injustice. NBPA executive director Michele Roberts joined Kyle Korver, Sterling Brown, Anthony Tolliver, Marco Belinelli, and Jonathan Isaac in the meeting.
- The players offered the pope a book documenting their community and social initiatives, as well as some jerseys and a golden basketball. “He said sport is such an opportunity to unify, and he compared it to a team, where you have a common goal and you’re working together, but you all use your own personalities,” Korver said.
- The players used the meeting as an opportunity to expand global awareness of their social justice efforts. The NBA and WNBA have been at the forefront of political discussions in sports, taking the lead to discuss difficult topics such as the police killings of unarmed Black Americans.
“I thought it was a fraud email that I got. I called Michele right away. I was like, ‘Is this for real?’ She said, ‘Yes, it is and would you like to come in like two days?’ This came together really quick.” – Kyle Korver, Milwaukee Bucks
Korver and Brown are teammates on the Milwaukee Bucks team that started the August players strike after the shooting Jacob Blake.
