While NBA players will have the option of wearing their standard jersey or one with a social justice message in place of their last name, Jimmy Butler wants to do something different.
Butler wants to wear a blank jersey, with neither a social justice message or his name on the back, in order to make a unique statement of his own.
“If I wasn't who I was today, I'm no different than anybody else of colour. I want that to be my message in the sense that just because I'm an NBA player, everyone has the same rights, no matter what,” says Butler.
It remains to be seen if the NBA will grant this unique request. The league approved a list of 29 social justice messages for players to choose from, and while Butler expressed his respect for those messages, it seems like he has opted for his own path.
He won’t be the only NBA star to choose against using one of the league’s approved messages. LeBron James and Anthony Davis are sticking with their own names, and LeBron specifically said that the messages didn’t align with his own mission for change.
