>> I just want to quickly show a couple of other videos so as the strike was like brewing
up and expanding yesterday there were a few videos that went viral that I found to be
very touching and inspiring. First I wanna show you a little bit of Kenny Smith, host
of inside the NBA in real time doing what he can to participate in this.
>> I think the biggest thing now is to kind of as a black man, as a former player, I think
it's best for me to support the players and just not be here tonight. And figure out what
happens after that. I just don't feel good there.
>> And I respect that.
>> And so he walked off and obviously, the question what exactly the role or position
or stance of media should be during these sorts of events is obviously complex and I
respect multiple different viewpoints even if I don't hold them. Like some people say
you should participate, some people say but you gotta cover it so that people know about
it.
I know that's always sort of complex, Michael. But I respect what he did. I think that people
take different roles in media too, Kenny Smith is a former player, is a former coach. He
is an African American he's a lot of the reason why these players aren't playing?
I think for Kenny Smith to do that is different than if a play by play announcer does it or
I do think it has to be reported. And I think it's okay to stay in that booth and report
it. But I also think absolutely the correct what Kenny Smith did and I think it's important
too because at that moment has really captivated a lot of people.
>> Yeah. And I also I love that we can't show the entire thing but this video of Chris Webber,
talking about what's going on I found to be really inspiring-
>> I have young nephews, I've had to talk to him about death before they've even seen
it in a movie.
If not, now, when, If not during a pandemic and countless lives being lost, if not now
when. That's all I just want to hear from the rest of the night, why everybody's pontificating
and thinking and soapboxing and all of that. We know nothing is going to change. We get
it.
Martin Luther King got shot and risked his life Medgar Evers that we've seen this and
all of our heroes constantly taken down we understand it's not gonna end. But that does
not mean young man that you don't do anything. Don't listen to these people telling you don't
do anything because it's not going to end right away.
You are starting something for the next generation and the next generation to take over. Do you
have to be smart? Yes. Do you have to make sure that you have a plan? Yes. Do you have
to be articulate about that plan? Yes. All of those things, but that's what you're gonna
do, they're professionals.
They know how to be the best of themselves. And so I applaud it. I applaud it because
it is the young people. It is the young people leading the way and I applaud them.
>> Yeah, I love that and and he makes the point about you know that there's obviously
a lot of people that don't understand why, like kids who look up to it.
He talked about when he was a kid looking up to athletes, he doesn't understand why
they're not playing, but like they have power but the power is based on what they do and
what society wants out of them, withholding it and again, not in a boycott in a strike.
That might be something that can help it break through because even though we're in the middle
of like the biggest sustained social movement of my lifetime, the regime doesn't care. Like
they're resisting, like even an inch of reform at the federal level. There have been some
cities in some states that have done a couple of small things, but, and so, I respect anyone
who's willing to put their future of their money where their mouth is and actually use
the the organizing power that they have as workers.
>> And to use some TDR call back. These are our Christmas cookies. These are the kinds
of things that are are encouraging and make it feel positive when you sort of see this
spreading and the way that it seems to be spreading and it takes a while. It doesn't
happen overnight.
I mean, we were so used to things happening so quickly. Gay marriage, for example happen
much quicker much more quickly than voting rights did and so maybe maybe some change
will happen but it's hard also to define what that change is when you have a nebulous goal.
You know the Civil Rights wanted to end the Jim Crow laws and they wanted to get the vote.
Gay rights wanted to get the marriage and of course there are other parts of that that
are included. But those were really tangible goals. This, this tangible goal is needs to
be more, you know, more adequately defined for people, but it's there and the people
are fighting for it, know it.