The era of “stick to sports” is dead. You may have memories of athletes who hung up their cleats and sat on the couch to watch the six o’clock news at the end of a day’s practice (you know, except for groundbreakers like Roberto Clemente and Muhammad Ali), but those days are over.
Athletes are people, a fact that often gets brushed aside. They have hopes and dreams, values and beliefs. Just like you and I can tell someone how we feel about a politician or a businessman or a potential law, so can an NBA star. The only difference is the number of people eavesdropping on the conversation.