Kevin Arnovitz ESPN Staff Writer
Aug 28, 2020
Before the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association announced Friday that the postseason would resume with players and the league working collectively toward social justice goals, we reached out to more than a dozen leaders to ask how they would advise NBA players to use their influence to translate political passions into tangible results. One recurring theme that emerged from these elected officials, legal scholars, criminal justice reform advocates, communications executives and political operatives can be summarized by an old adage: All politics is local.
It's not a coincidence that the Milwaukee Bucks spent part of Wednesday on the phone not with federal office-holders or national leaders, but with their state's attorney general and lieutenant governor. Many of the laws that govern criminal justice originate at the local and state levels, and many of the grassroots organizations and local interests that can compel reform from those with power reside in local communities.