In the past few years, athletes including Colin Kaepernick, LeBron James, Megan Rapinoe, Kevin Durant and more have spoken up on political issues, offering a unique perspective that is heralded by some and criticized by others. TSL sports writers Oliver Schoening PZ ’27 and Jun Kwon PO ’28 debate whether it is professional for athletes to share their political views, or rather pipe-down and focus on their athletics.
In a 2018 segment of her show “The Ingraham Angle,” Fox News pundit Laura Ingraham rebuked NBA player LeBron James after he publicly denounced then-President Donald Trump during a televised interview on ESPN. While on air, Ingraham infamously went on to tell James to “shut up and dribble.”
Since then, the phrase has been used primarily by right-wing journalists and content creators to criticize athletes who have spoken out against social and political issues including American presidential elections and the Black Lives Matter movement.
Dating back to Muhammad Ali’s protests against the Vietnam War’s conscription and Tommie Smith and John Carlos’ raised fists on a 1968 Olympics track podium, sports have long been a forum to highlight important issues.
However, unwavering advocacy and involvement haven’t been sheltered from negative responses. Media pundits and news are often the first to criticize athletes for speaking out against issues ideologically antithetical to certain parties or policies.
While Ingraham and media outlets like Fox News continue to criticize professional athletes, history has shown that it won’t stop them. Many athletes have used their platform to champion issues of social injustice and politics, influencing fans to mobilize around a cause.
According to Schoening, while Ingraham was immediately slammed across social media for her commentary widely seen as racially charged, athletes still have a lot to consider before making political statements. They represent their teams and leagues, and carry responsibilities and obligations that to many, hold greater importance than expressing personal opinions.
In 2016, then-San Francisco 49ers quarterback Kaepernick decided to take a knee during the national anthem in order to protest the discrimination and police violence against people of color in the United States.
“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses Black people and people of color,” Kaepernick said, defending his actions.
Reactions were mixed, with some applauding Kaepernick for his bravery in taking a stand against what he saw as institutional racism in the United States whereas others accused him of disrespecting the country and the flag.
Regardless, the fallout of Kaepernick’s decision to protest was swift and immediate. Kaepernick opted out of his contract at the end of the year, and despite a statistically solid season as he battled through injuries, Kaepernick remained unsigned through the 2017 NFL season and has not played on an NFL team since.
Kaepernick’s story serves as a cautionary tale for many athletes. In a profession where a career can end abruptly due to injuries or a myriad of other factors outside of an athlete’s control, there is a lot more to take into account than a political statement. While Kaepernick has been able to make the best out of his situation, becoming a social activist and signing book deals, other athletes might not find themselves so lucky.
It might seem selfish, given lavish lifestyles that many athletes enjoy, but professional athletes are ultimately employees like everybody else. There are countless stories of people being fired or facing discipline in the workplace for political comments, and athletes should not be considered any different. Besides, athletes are perhaps even more disposable than a typical person in the workforce. The average career length in the NFL is just 3.3 years, and the NBA average is just slightly longer, at 4.5 years.
While these professional athletes may feel an obligation to use their influence to speak out, their first priority should be to ensure that they make the most out of a career that can change in an instant. Athletes work their whole lives to accomplish the goal of playing professionally, and there is little sense in throwing away a lifetime of work in order to make a political statement that may very well fall upon deaf ears.
Kwon has a different take. For Kwon, disagreements will inevitably occur in topics as polarizing as politics. Of course, thousands of athletes stand on different ends of the spectrum across many issues. However, stigmatizing and censoring the athletes’ abilities to engage in discourse over said topics will only lead to a decline in civic engagement and valuable discussions.
It’s time to accept that, as fans, athletes reserve the right to express their political opinions. Fans can support or condemn the athlete, but stripping political expression from athletes is a dangerous precedent for influencing generations of passionate voters.
According to Kayla Malek, PO ’28, a point guard on the Pomona-Pitzer (P-P) women’s basketball team, free political expression, even in sports, is crucial.
“I think every private individual should be able to utilize their platform because, as a society, people should be able to form their own opinions,” Malek said.
Athletic involvement in social and political issues raises awareness for issues that may not have been previously exposed to a larger audience, including league officials and fanbases.
Charlotte Patel, PO ’28, a power forward on the P-P women’s basketball team, recalled her faint memory of Kaepernick’s headlines during the controversy.
“I think that if athletes cannot voice their opinions because of the system or the league that they’re a part of, then that’s the suppression of their free speech and their rights as American citizens,” Patel said.
Returning to Kaepernick, even now, there is debate over whether one should stand for the national anthem. The question that one must ask, however, is, does kneeling for the national anthem justify the treatment that Kaepernick received from the league and its fanbases?
One may say Kaepernick’s decision to kneel during the pledge was too polarizing. Some seemingly less polarizing issues, like the endorsements of Donald Trump from 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa or of Kamala Harris from LeBron James, still receive incredibly large amounts of backlash.
Talbott Chesley PO ’28, a center on the P-P men’s basketball team, shared that contentions of fundamental values should not justify limitations on political expression.
“Though I may not like Bosa’s endorsement of Trump, following the same line of thought, you have to let people have their opinions, and just because they think differently does not mean they should be forced to keep quiet.”
Disagreement is inevitable but, in most situations, necessary. When athletes take stances on issues fans disagree on, the unfortunate consequence is a reactive flinch resulting in hatred and criticism. Instead, fans and officials should look to understand and empathize.
Political endorsements from professional athletes will not swing the needle enough to influence elections and trends. Still, they will surely increase awareness and exposure, which can lead to further research and civic engagement.
Athletes are humans with lived experiences that inform their political and moral compasses. It would be unfair for fans and league officials to request that they detach themselves from every connection to their culture, heritage, and life to simply “shut up and dribble.” As long as athletes stay human, it will be impossible for sports to be completely neutral of political statements. It will only be a question of how much fans embrace its shared presence.
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