NBA players determined to spotlight racial inequality in resumed season

As the NBA heads towards resuming its season in Orlando, several players have wondered if the season will distract from the nationwide protesting of racial inequality and police brutality in response to George Floyd's death.

"This issue, racial injustice, social injustice, police brutality, all these things are not ending anytime soon," Raptors Fred VanVleet explained. "Our fight was long term. That was part of my decision. ... But if the league or more of my guys would have come together and said we didn't want to play, I would have sat out, as well. I wouldn't have even fought it."

One of the players who was the most outspoken about not restarting was Clippers' Lou Williams, as he feels the league needs to be intentional about supporting the Black Lives Matter movement.

"I got a lot of flak, and other guys are getting flak for saying, well, you know, maybe we shouldn't play," Williams said. "Because the reality is this: We have millions of people in the streets protesting. This the first time in history all 50 states have had people outside protesting for one cause. We don't want to be a distraction. We want to be an added help to the cause."

The message from Williams and others seemed to resonate, as NBPA president Chris Paul said he is confident that the resumed season will put a spotlight on issues rather than distract from them.

"We understand how powerful our voice is, and so even if we're back to playing, we understand that our voice can still be heard, our message can still be screamed loud and clear on an unbelievable platform," Paul said. "So just know that you're going to continue to hear us. Just know that. It's never a 'shut up and dribble' situation."

It's a sentiment shared by Lakers' Anthony Davis, who feels that playing is the best way to spread the message of anti-racism to millions of viewers.

"I think we're stronger together. ..." Davis said. "I think we're able to have more people in the room from other teams [in Orlando] and receive other ideas and figure out how we can change the world. What can we do individually and what can we do as a unit to make change, and I think the more people we have, the more minds we have, the more ideas and thoughts we can come up with to kind of change the world and change what's going on."