New Orleans Pelicans guard CJ McCollum continues to push for voter engagement among NBA players

The NBA has regular-season games on Halloween, Christmas, New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Inauguration Day and President’s Day. As for today, Election Day, the NBA and the leader of its players prefer the focus be on the polls and not the court as the President of the United States and local government officials are elected.

“It was important,” New Orleans Pelicans guard CJ McCollum, who is also the president of the NBA Players Association, told Andscape about being off on Election Day. “It was something that [the NBPA] talked about and I was vocal about. There is an importance of us being able to spread information to others. It’s important for us to take the time off to make sure everybody goes out and votes and point a spotlight to that.”

On Election Day, there will be no NBA games played. The NBA and NBPA partnered with civic organizations and their hope is that being off today will encourage players and fans to get out and vote and take part in civic engagement. The NBA joined forces with non-partisan, civic organizations to promote voter registration and educational resources with “Get in the Game: Vote.” The league participated in National Vote Early Day on Oct. 29. Also, eight NBA teams (Cleveland Cavaliers, Indiana Pacers, LA Clippers, Phoenix Suns, Golden State Warriors, Portland Trailblazers, Sacramento Kings, Detroit Pistons) are using their facilities as polling locations or ballot drop boxes.

The NBPA told Andscape it was uncertain how many players were registered to vote. The NBA typically has around 450 players on rosters and opened this season with a record 125 international players from 40 countries. NBA players such as Jaylen Brown, Damian Lillard, Jeff Green, Harrison Barnes, Kyle Kuzma and Larry Nance Jr. took part in public service announcements encouraging voting. On Oct. 22, the entire San Antonio Spurs roster and head coach Gregg Popovich voted early together.

Through the National Basketball Coaches Association, coaches filmed a PSA encouraging voting entitled “What’s Your Issue?” NBA stars Stephen Curry and Chris Paul also serve on the board of “When We All Vote.” The NBPA Foundation, Social Change Fund and TUNL — a platform merging sports, fashion and culture — donated $60,000 to When We All Vote” to host four “Party at the Polls” events in Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina and Wisconsin. NBA players Keita Bates-Diop, Kevon Looney, Jarred Vanderbilt and Peyton Watson also joined forces with TUNL to create “But Did You Vote?” hoodies and T-shirts.

“We just feel a responsibility to share the message of the importance of voting and use our platform to do that. All we can do is our best,” McCollum said.

McCollum also took part in a voting PSA called, “What Will You Choose?” with several WNBA players. McCollum also has been encouraging Black males to vote, and the Pelicans documented McCollum taking part in early voting and posted it on social media.

The 2016 NBA Most Improved Player said he is confident that all his teammates that are eligible to vote.

Several players and team employees were registered with the aid of Pelicans assistant coach Jarron Collins’ wife Elsa, who led a registration at the practice facility. Elsa Collins is a founding member of “I Am a Voter,” a non-partisan organization dedicated to creating a cultural shift around voting and civic engagement.

“[Collins’] wife came in and made sure everybody was registered,” McCollum said. “She made sure everybody voted, absentees, let everybody know what they needed to do. I did the early voting process in New Orleans. We had our team follow me there to come spread the message. I’m doing the stuff to spread awareness…

“We [the Pelicans players] handled that. Everyone did what they were supposed to do to position themselves to vote based on where they are residents.”

Back in 2020, NBA players inspired by systemic racism and police brutality against Black Americans encouraged voting during the coronavirus pandemic. This was in the aftermath of the police brutality deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and the shooting of Jacob Blake by a police officer. NBA players also sparked several teams to make facilities into polling places for the 2020 presidential election.

Now, however, McCollum and Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr both acknowledged a decrease in NBA player interest to promote voting during this election cycle.

“There was more time to be aware,” McCollum said about 2020. “You were doing nothing [during the Pandemic] so you see everything and we exposed to everything. Everybody was locked in and everyone was sitting at home… information was being spread rapidly. Now, everyone goes back to work, people have their own lives, and they’re not necessarily as tapped in as they were historically. In 2020, the world stopped. Everyone paid attention.

“We put an emphasis in 2020, but we still do today. A lot of the arenas are still opened up [as polling stations].”

Said Kerr: “These things kind of go in spurts, in waves. Through most of my playing career, athletes didn’t really speak out politically at all. Four years ago, was a very heated time in the country with Covid, with the George Floyd murder. I think circumstances dictate a lot of that sort of activity whether its athletes or young people.

“That is kind of the history of our country. [During the] Vietnam [War], it went way up. That was coming on the heels of the civil rights movement with Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar], [Muhammad] Ali and Jim Brown. Then there is a big lull. It’s kind of like everything else, it kind of comes and goes. I kind of think there is some fatigue involved. At some point people just want to go on with their lives and live their lives. There is a lot of fluctuation because of that.”

Kerr, Popovich and Milwaukee Bucks head coach Doc Rivers have all publicly stated that they are voting for Kamala Harris for President of the United States and believe that former President Donald Trump has divided the country. Kerr spoke at the Democratic National Convention on Harris’ behalf while a Curry endorsement video played there as well. Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James denounced Trump last week on social media and explained his decision to media as to why he’s supporting Harris. Orlando Magic forward Jonathan Isaac also said in a social media post on April 3 that “based on policy and held ideologies of both sides it’s hard to want those things as a Christian and American and vote Kamala.”

McCollum stated that he planned on voting for Harris and had a conversation shown on social media to push for more African American male voting.

When asked why he voted for Harris, McCollum said: “Have you seen Trump and how divisive he is? All those things that we have seen historically with the disrespect to certain populations, it’s an easy decision [for Harris].”