Bradley Beal disagrees NBA restart will be distraction from social justice reform

Bradley Beal remains undecided on whether he will play during the NBA’s restart in Orlando later this month. However, Beal disagrees playing will be a distraction from momentum gained with social justice reform.

Beal said he disagrees that the NBA coming back will be a distraction from social justice reform. Said NBA needs to talk about it so much that people are "pissed off and tired of seeing it… we have to utilize our platforms as athletes to speak out."

— Chase Hughes (@ChaseHughesNBCS) July 1, 2020

The NBA halted the 2019-2020 season in March after one of its players — Utah center Rudy Gobert — tested positive for COVID-19. The season has been at a standstill for nearly four months due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In the midst of the pandemic, George Floyd died while in custody of police in Minneapolis. His controversial death sparked outrage and protests around the nation and throughout the world. NBA players, including Bradley Beal, joined in protests and rallies. Beal’s team, the Washington Wizards, partnered with the WNBA’s Washington Mystics to hold a rally on Juneteenth.

Through the death of Floyd, as well as Breonna Taylor, Rashard Brooks and Ahmaud Arbery, there is a heightened awareness in the country about racism, police brutality and social injustice. Thus a coalition of players led by Kyrie Irving and Avery Bradley expressed concerns the league restarting the season this month could distract and halt some of the momentum built during the Black Lives Matter movement.

Beal thinks otherwise. He believes, the players can use their platform even more by playing and drawing attention to the movement. Yet, he gets what both sides of the debate are saying.

Bradley Beal: “We stopped playing basketball because of COVID. We didn’t stop because of social injustice. And I feel like we still can raise awareness by playing basketball…But I get it from both sides of those who think it’s a distraction. I don’t think it is."— Fred Katz (@FredKatz) July 1, 2020

Like the NBA, the WNBA plans to play out their season in a bubble setting in Florida later this month. A number of WNBA players, including Mystics guard Natasha Cloud, have opted out of playing this season to continue their fight for social reform.

NBA players, Avery Bradley and Beal’s teammate Davis Bertans, have opted out of playing the restart. However, none of announced NBA players have cited social reform as their reason for sitting out.

The NBA has worked with its players to address concerns over social justice for the Orlando restart. The NBA will have “Black Lives Matter” painted on the three playing courts in Orlando. Players will be allowed to wear social justice statements on the back of their jerseys in place of their last name.

While Beal is undecided if he will play in the NBA’s restart, he emphasized his decision won’t be based on social reform.