Dear NBA
via the NY Times
An advertisement featuring the NBA’s two biggest superstars includes a gun reference, the same week two players were suspended for carrying firearms to the locker room. The Nike ad, which appears in several publications including Sports Illustrated and ESPN The Magazine, has LeBron James on one page and Kobe Bryant on the other. Along with the slogan, “Prepare For Combat,” is a quote from each player showing how tough he is.
Bryant’s blurb says: “I’ll do whatever it takes to win games. I don’t leave anything in the chamber.”
“The Nike print ad featuring Kobe Bryant was intended to illustrate his all out play and commitment on the basketball court,” Nike said in a statement. “It is a commonly used reference for shooting the basketball and no offense was intended.” NBA commissioner David Stern is sensitive to the issue of gun violence, and the NBA criticized the ad.
“We had no prior notice of this ad,” spokesman Tim Frank said. “We think it is inappropriate.”
Brandon Roy is a shooting guard. Daniel 'Boobie' Gibson is a gunner from three. The Magic had all of their guns drawn last night. Kobe Bryant doesn't leave anything in the chamber. NBA, what do all of those statements have in common besides being associated with basketball? Take your time...
Dingdingdingding!!! You got it!! They all have to do with guns or ammunition! NBA, and more importantly David Stern, you guys have some serious issues with rhetoric, evidenced by the overreaction from a damn Nike ad. Okay, we get it.. You don't want more Gilbert Arenas' running around making jokes on Twitter and during pre-game warmups. That's all well and good. But at what point does your discretion turn into a witch hunt? At what point are you shooting at a straw man? At what point are you going too far? It's one thing to have an (un)loaded gun in an NBA locker room and to have an ammunition-filled altercation. It's something completely different and nowhere near as destructive to have a Nike ad that references guns as a euphemism for a player's drive on the court. When you can't draw a delineation between the two, there is a problem.
NBA, it seems every year like you guys are trying to find ways to water down the personality of the game and the characters involved. Whether it's dress codes that are directed at black players, increased technical fouls for simply looking at a referee, or clamping down on players who make 'gun references', there won't be any personality in the game in the next decade! That's not to say David Stern has been a bad commissioner. At the same time, trying to regulate the language used in the NBA's advertising seems pointless, especially when it's the game's two (almost) pristine superstars. In fact it's even funnier that it's Kobe and LeBron, because if anyone was above the machinations of the security-crazed league, it would have been them. I suppose when you've got a league full of shooters, it's a thin line to draw between gun references and full team