‘Face of the NBA’ debate less important than state of league’s soul

BOSTON — Before Kyrie Irving’s season-ending injury interrupted the news cycle, two debates dominated conversations around the NBA.

The first was whether the NBA — with its long, meandering season — had lost its competitive edge. This debate was tied to yet another NBA All-Star Game fiasco that had fans conflating lack of effort in an exhibition with a lack of competitive fire. Trust me, NBA players have not lost their competitive edge or the underlying pride that fuels it. That fire was on display last summer during the Paris Olympics when the USA men’s basketball team led by LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry held off stiff competition and won another gold medal for the United States.

The competitive edge was apparent here Saturday evening when the defending champion Boston Celtics hosted the Luka Doncic-invigorated Los Angeles Lakers. The Celtics won 111-101, but the Lakers, despite falling behind by as many as 21 points, fought back and cut the lead to four points in the fourth quarter.

How important was this game? Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum played a season high 45 minutes and guard Jaylen Brown played 42.

Competition was alive.

NBA players know when and where to seize the moment, and the moment is not at the All-Star Game.

As Brown told reporters after Saturday’s game “It felt like a playoff-type intensity, obviously.”

“The history between the Lakers and the Celtics is prevalent,” Brown said. “Tonight, I felt like both sides brought it from the jump. They started out the gate hitting shots, we matched them, hit some shots. They closed it back late. We were able to create some more separation, but it was a great energy game. Today was not one of those regular season normal games where it’s whatever. Tonight was a good day for basketball.”

The second, more pervasive debate involves the superficial discussion of image — specifically, who is the so called “Face of the NBA.”

No other North American sports league is as obsessed with the “face-of-the-league” question as the NBA. Perhaps it’s because the league and media surrounding the league are defined by a cult of personality which has the effect of making its 82-game regular season a beauty pageant.

Jerry West is “The Logo” but what determines the Face? Points scored? Popularity and endorsements? Jersey sales? The face is an imprecise sliding scale: Ja Morant? Damaged goods and unpredictable. Tatum? Too dull. Anthony Edwards said he doesn’t want to be the face of the NBA, regardless of what it means. To the extent that we want to give credibility to the face-of-the-league debate, the reality is that stars like Doncic, Nikola Jokic and Victor Wembanyama are more likely to become the imprimatur of a league that has long aspired to be a global entity.

The real faces of the NBA are powerful faces and forces you don’t see. These are the owners and executives who move players around like chess pieces, who let Doncic go to bed as a Dallas Maverick and wake up as a Los Angeles Laker. The faceless faces of power are the face of the NBA.

My overarching question though, is not about the NBA’s face, but about its soul. 

I have thought about this ever since the Super Bowl when NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was bombarded with questions about the NFL’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion in light of President Donald Trump’s administration and its virulent war on federally funded DEI initiatives.

Even though most of those who own NBA and NFL teams identify as conservatives and Republicans, the NBA and the NFL employ one of the United States most diverse labor forces. The majority of those they employ are young African American males.

When the league’s backs have been pushed against the wall, as they were in the wake of the murder of George Floyd in 2020, these leagues have been effective in forming a moral resistance to heavy handed tactics that imperil a community from which many of the athletes came. Hence the leagues that employ these athletes have not only been sympathetic to DEI initiatives but aggressively support them.

Indeed, the NFL and the NBA which once excluded Black athletes have become American economic and cultural pillars because of their inclusion. The NBA, in particular, has been at the vanguard of social justice and Black History Month initiatives. During his 10 years as NBA commissioner, Adam Silver has supported a number of social justice initiatives, including the National Basketball Social Justice Coalition. In 2014, Silver helped persuade owners to oust then-Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling over racist comments.

Two years ago, speaking at the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago, Silver noted that “Roughly 80% of our players are Black. We feel an obligation to partner with them and to use this incredibly powerful voice we have to speak out on these issues.”

I’m curious to see how the league and its players will respond to the current administration’s aggressive moves to abolish initiatives that the NBA holds dear. Will the league and its largely well-compensated players stick to sports to avoid alienating its fan base?

In Trump’s first term, the Golden State Warriors balked at going to the White House to celebrate their NBA title. The invitation was ultimately withdrawn. In response to the President’s tweet announcing that the Warriors invitation had been withdrawn, James famously tweeted in 2017 “U bum. (Curry) already said he ain’t going so therefore ain’t no invitation. Going to the White House was a great honor until you showed up!”

Eight years later, James, 40, is winding down a phenomenal NBA career. He is part of an outgoing list of future Hall of Famers that includes Kevin Durant, Curry and Chris Paul. In varying degrees, they have been the faces of the NBA but, more importantly, they have been the voice and the conscious of the NBA.

In a transactional environment where ideals and principles can be traded for money, who will take up the mantle? Brown? Tatum? Edwards?

As we anticipate a ferociously competitive NBA playoffs and the crowning of a champion, I’m intrigued less about the Face of the NBA debates.

The larger question is about the state of the NBA’s soul.