Marcus Smart wanted ‘I matter’ message on his jersey, NBA said no
By Amy Kaplan
Marcus Smart wanted another message on his jersey, NBA said no
NBA players from each team are now allowed to choose a message for social issues to be printed on the back of their 2020 jerseys. Some players, like LeBron James, have opted out of choosing a message and will keep their surname. Others, like Boston Celtics’ Marcus Smart, have made a choice but it isn’t exactly the one he wanted.
According to ESPN’s Tim Bontemps, Smart has chosen “Freedom” for his jersey but would have preferred to have “I matter” instead.
Marcus Smart said he will put "Freedom" on his jersey in the restart, but said that he would've preferred to put "I Matter" on it. That, however, wasn't one of the options provided from the list the NBA and NBPA put together for players to choose from.
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) July 12, 2020
According to the report, Smart was not allowed to choose that message as it was not one of the pre-selected messages that NBA players were allowed to pick from.
Here is a list of pre-approved messages:
- Black Lives Matter
- Say Their Names
- Vote
- I Can’t Breathe
- Justice
- Peace
- Equality
- Freedom
- Enough
- Power to the People
- Justice Now
- Say Her Name
- Sí Se Puede (Yes We Can)
- Liberation
- See Us
- Hear Us
- Respect Us
- Love Us
- Listen
- Listen to Us
- Stand Up
- Ally
- Anti-Racist
- I Am A Man
- Speak Up
- How Many More
- Group Economics
- Education Reform
- Mentor
The NBA season will restart on July 30 after having been on hiatus since March 11 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Smart was one of the many NBA players who revealed he had tested positive of COVID-19 but was cleared of the virus some time ago.
“Corona free as of two days ago,” Smart wrote on his official Twitter. “Cleared by [Massachusetts] Dept of Health. Thanks for everyone’s thoughts and prayers and I’m doing the same for everyone that’s been effected (sic) by this. Stay safe and stay together apart. Much love.”
Next. Marcus Smart cleared of COVID-19. dark