Compared to the other major North American sports, the NBA likes to plant itself on the cutting edge of social justice issues, often taking a progressive stance. In 2020, as the country reckoned with the murder of George Floyd, protests sprang up. Naturally, NBA players were also outraged, and as a response, the league allowed players to have slogans adorn the back of their jerseys instead of their names during the 2020 Bubble.
However, allowing the players to call out injustices was not a brave stance by the league; it was simply a necessary one. The league, normally at the forefront of social movements, has long failed to look inward.
The NBA Has Chosen to Align Itself With Abusers
The fact of the matter is that the NBA would rather dole out meaningful punishments to Jonaty Porter for gambling or OJ Mayo for smoking marijuana than it would to Miles Bridges or Kevin Porter Jr. for physically abusing their partners.
As problematic and violent as Bridges and Porter Jr. are, the NBA will likely not link itself long-term with those players. Neither are superstars, and when they retire, they will not be dragged out by the league at events like the 75th Anniversary Team.
However, when legends of the game engage in predatory behavior, the league likes to turn a blind eye.
Derrick Rose admitted that he does not understand basic consent, Chauncey Billups and Kobe Bryant settled their rape cases in civil court, and, famously, Karl Malone impregnated a 13-year-old girl.
Instead of distancing themselves from Bryant, Billups, Rose, and Malone, the NBA celebrates all of them as legends, with Rose the only one not in the Hall of Fame.
For as eager as the league is to turn a blind eye, the Association is not the only one guilty of fraternizing with pedophiles and rapists. Players, both current and former, seem to eagerly embrace players like Malone. Both LeBron James and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar have been at the forefront of progressive movements, but a picture tells a thousand words.
Perhaps Abdul-Jabbar and James don’t want to stir the pot, but their track records prove otherwise. James famously called Donald Trump a “bum” in 2017 and endorsed Kamala Harris, and Abdul-Jabbar was at the forefront of the civil rights movement.
NBA players, it seems, are willing to call out boogeymen like Trump, but are unwilling to take the extra step and hold their peers accountable.
In the age of the internet, young men are becoming incredibly vocal about their beliefs, regardless of what side of the aisle they are on. In 2024, it became increasingly clear that young men, especially white men, are aligning themselves with the new “alt-right” conservative movement.
However, as the youth are turning right, there are some who are still willing to call out their friends, co-workers, and leaders for suspect or predatory language and behavior. Up until this summer, the NBA had yet to have a player stand up to the league, putting players like Malone, Bryant, Billups, and Rose on a pedestal, although that has quickly changed.
Victor Wembanyama Called Out Karl Malone and the NBA
On July 24, Malone celebrated his 62nd birthday, and the NBA posted a message to him on social media. Victor Wembanyama reposted a video in response to the birthday message.
“Lock his ass up! You need to be under the jail.”
Fans quickly flocked to the post. Fans, unlike players and the league offices, do not have a vested interest in the financial success of the NBA, so most would prefer the league to distance itself from players like Malone.
Of course, the league has done an excellent job of making sure that fans don’t know about the checkered past of some legends, so the majority were likely confused as to why Wembanyama has beef with “the Mailman.”
Wembanyama’s post did what the NBA feared most: it started a dialogue about how the Association perceives some of its most grotesque characters.
Wemby’s social media presence is interesting. Obviously, he uses it to promote his own interests, like his chess tournament or his Nike contract, but like most young people, he does put his own opinion into some posts. Very “social” media, if you will.
While calling out predators is inherently linked to Trump and his administration at this point, there is some evidence that Wembanyama is a dissenter, even if he is not an American citizen.
The Next Face of the NBA Might Be a Socialist
Bear with me.
As popular candidates like Zohran Mamdani (NY), Graham Platner (ME), Omar Fateh (MN), and Abdul El-Sayed (MI) used social media to gain national attention in local elections, the term “socialist” is not the loaded buzzword it once was.
In the past, the Bernie Sanders of the world had to dance around the term, but younger candidates, who are mobilizing young voters, will readily use the “S-Word” to describe themselves. As young people identify more with leftism than party lines and affiliation, it’s only a matter of time before a major sports league with a global audience boasts a star who is willing to speak out.
Based on some of Wembanyama’s social media activity, he might very well be.
He has allegedly liked posts poking fun at “profit incentive” and Zionism, and during his tour of Asia earlier this summer, seemed enamoured by the Red China aesthetic.
“‘You can tell Wemby is a liberal’ ya like the aura alien Frenchmen who spends his summer in Chinese dojos, reads fantasy novels every night, and is a prolific chess player was going to be some right wing chud,” posted a fan.
Wembanyama has already shown a willingness to differ with the messaging of the NBA. Could he be willing to take a jab at right-wing, capitalist policies? Perhaps no one is more invincible than the multi-millionaire 21-year-old who is the face of a billion-dollar corporation.
Of course, he isn’t exactly a “working class hero,” but he has the platform to boost his views, perhaps more than any other 21-year-old.
A Leftist NBA Star Would Be Bigger Than the League
If you’ve made it his far, I think I can assume you agree with my general premise of “right-wing politics and big businesses profit off of abusers,” so it shouldn’t be too alienating for me to say that LeBron is not exactly the progressive champion he would like to be.
First of all, he was the first active athlete to ever become a billionaire. That’s a major knock against him, and on top of that, his party line politics are more akin to Hillary Clinton than Greta Thunberg.
Suffice to say, the leaders on the left aren’t exactly in tune with NBA Twitter, and the vast majority of NBA fans are not in tune with fringe policies. Wembanyama, somehow, might be able to bridge that gap.
Now, even as a multi-millionaire with a massive global following, Wembanyama is not exempt from the ramblings of Trump and the callous effectiveness of his secret police (ICE) that has already terrorized left-leaning activists. While targeting Wembanyama would look more like a threat of deportation (back to France, where he is a national hero) than being disappeared to an El Salvadorian prison camp, there could still be very real consequences.
When James and other NBA stars were told to “shut up and dribble,” nothing they were requesting was radical; the right-wing media, as usual, saw any threat to the status quo as a threat to America as a whole and ran with it.
Based on Wembanyama’s internet activity, we already know that he leans left and is not scared to call out aspects of society he doesn’t agree with, even when it goes against the narrative the NBA has tried to spin for decades. He might be willing to take things one step further than his contemporaries, calling out both the NBA for their unpalatable, willful ignorance and calling out global systems for the “dystopian” world they have built.
Wembanyama has already expressed his disdain for Las Vegas, and perhaps no one in the world embodies the gauche, flashy-with-no-substance, sleazy, and downright dangerous aspects of the City of Sin more than Trump himself.
With Gregg Popovich out of the spotlight, someone in the NBA needs to be willing to have uncomfortable conversations. It makes sense that it would be another San Antonio Spur.
Keep in mind that Pop and the Spurs waived prized young player Josh Primo for inappropriate conduct with a staffer. The Clippers and Bulls both gave him another chance in the league. The Spurs have distanced themselves from sex pests and soulless politicians, so Wembanyama would not be in entirely uncharted waters.
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