Maybe this time, Black Lives will Matter enough.

It’s appropriate that the NBA is the leader again. Pro basketball was the first sport to halt play when the coronavirus infiltrated their league. It was the first to put a plan together to return to action and along with pro hockey were succeeding inside a bubble.

Now, the NBA has taken the step that may truly trigger reform in this country against those who harm defenseless people when restraint is a safer and more just option for everyone. After the NBA, Major League Baseball postponed games, Major League Soccer did the same along with stars from some of the individual sports.

People may say it’s good timing, or even God’s will, that all this occurred during a deadly pandemic, too long unattended to by the Federal government and still raging out of control. It not only forced games to stop, it gave players time away to truly think about what is still happening in America and what they can do about it.

Jaylen Brown, a Berkeley alum and activist with the Boston Celtics, asked the NBA players who will choose to leave the bubble what they planned to do. Are they just returning home or are they going back into their communities to sort out what the President and his minions have politicized into mass confusion?

Peaceful protests must continue, and those who are inciting violence need to be ferreted out and identified for their motives. Clearly, the local governments can’t do it and a White House won’t, so expect players without whom there would be no NBA going to the owners and demand they step up with their voices and dollars.

This is an inflection point in American history, where high profile athletes from all sports will likely be joined by stars from the entertainment business to band together and make sure Black Lives Matter enough. Mistakes from knee-jerk reactions to the jerks in Washington have now forced the strongest hand in history.

Kneeling and jersey slogans are not enough. A commitment of will and money must start to untangle this systemic mess for good.

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