With Colin Kaepernick’s national anthem protest gaining more traction and the NBA season right around corner, some wonder if the protest will carry to the hardwood. Just a few days ago, Oklahoma City Thunder player Victor Oladipo said he thought some NBA players will follow suit. Now, Cleveland Cavaliers star Iman Shumpert says that he’s kneeling for the anthem in his newest track, “His Story.”
Shumpert’s been in hip-hop for a couple years now and to see him be a professional NBA player and an artist taking a kneel for justice does my heart well. Premiered on KarenCivil the 3-minute track has Shumpert getting personal with some of the news stories he’s been in. In the last verse of the track though, Shumpert makes it known “you best believe I’m going to take me a knee for the anthem.” Whether this is true or not remains to be seen, but this opens the door to how the NBA will react when the season starts. With Kaepernick receiving a polarizing response not just from the media, but from the people and league itself, it’ll be interesting to see what happens come October when the defending NBA champions Cleveland Cavaliers open against the New York Knicks.
