“I am not a role model.” This infamous statement by a popular athlete in a controversial Nike commercial sparked national debate when the commercial was released in 1993. The athlete, Charles Barkely, famously offered that he was not responsible for, nor cared to be responsible for, the development of young America. That, he argued, was to be the work of teachers and parents.
What about today? Are athletes role models? Should my future sons or daughters look to an athlete for direction? Personally, I hope not. I hope that when that time comes, my children look to me for advice or verification before mimicking an athlete whose values and intentions are never truly understood with absolute certainty. But what about society? How much do the opinions of athletes shape a culture and what responsibility do those athletes have to offer those opinions? Muhammad Ali would answer that there is great responsibility to be had on the part of an athlete. Michael Jordan would politely disagree and point to the fact that the game is being played for everyone, not just those whose ideals are correctly aligned with those of the athlete that's playing. Two iconic athletes whose opinions represent a stark contrast in an ever-growing debate of athletic activism.
This summer our nation will participate in the 2008 Summer Olympics to be held in Beijing, China. NBA players have a particularly interesting dilema on their hands and the spotlight will shine brightest on the games brightest stars; Lebron James, that would you. Kobe Bryant, before you add a gold medal to that MVP award this year, how about a quick sound-bite condemning genocide in Darfur? You see the People’s Republic of China happens to be home to the largest growing contingent of NBA fans in the world. Nike plans on spending tens of millions of dollars in advertising aimed at capitalizing on the recent spike in popularity of basketball in China. Many of the products licensed and distributed by the NBA are manufactured in China. China is unequivocally intertwined into the fabric of the NBA.
China is also the same country that has been accused of supporting the Sudanese inflicted genocide in Darfur. With mass amounts of economic interests in the Sudan region, China has remained ostensibly silent on the subject of the conflict. Instead, they continue to support the Sudanese government and are suspected of funding facilities that manufacture weapons used in the conflict by Sudanese forces. These facts are sure to make headlines during the Olympics. With the weight that the NBA carries in China, players such as Lebron, Kobe, and even Coach K will surely be bombarded by questions challenging their personal stands on the issue of human rights in China. So what is their responsibility in all of this? Surely, anything that they say will be as powerful as it is scrutinized. Players such as Steve Nash and Kobe Bryant have already begun to release public service announcements in attempts to rally support for non-profit organizations hoping to end the conflict in Darfur. When a former teammate asked King James to offer his signature on a document condemning the use of genocide in Darfur, James politely declined, citing the fact that he needed to research the topic before he signed his name to anything. Some would say that Lebron’s decision to not involve himself was the right thing to do. Many of us view sports as an outlet. That being the case, many do not want the gloom and doom of everyday life permeating the athletic arena. This arena, some feel, should be free from the conflicts of religion, race, and politics. How realistic of an expectation that is, is clearly debatable.
Whether you agree or not with Lebron’s decision to remain symbolically apolitical at that moment, or Bryant’s decision to become active, the fact remains that whether they are role models or not, educated or naïve, their opinions will be sought after. These opinions are worth their weight in gold, and as such, the athletes have an opportunity that many lay citizens would die for; the opportunity to make a tangible difference in the world we live in. Should the NBA speak up or simply shut up and play?
