SAN FRANCISCO—On Friday, August 28, the Golden State Warriors announced their plan to convert the Chase Center into a polling location for the upcoming election on November 3.
The news follows a week around the National Basketball Association (NBA) where players of every team remaining in the playoffs decided not to take the court as a form of protest. The players used their platform as professional athletes to stand in solidarity with the current racial justice movement that is calling for an end to police brutality and equitable treatment for African Americans. As a result, three days of playoff games got postponed.
On Friday, the NBA leadership and the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) announced that the postseason will resume on Saturday. This joint statement came with three initiatives that the league will pursue toward greater awareness for racial justice.
One of the initiatives is that “in every city where the NBA owns the arena, leaders of that team must work with local election officials to convert the facility into a voting location for the 2020 general election to allow for a safe in-person voting option for communities vulnerable to COVID.” The other two initiatives are to establish a social justice coalition and work with network partners to create a related media campaign.
The Warriors’ decision complies with the NBA guidance and aligns with the team’s recent political and social justice activity. A Warriors’ source told the SF Chronicle that the organization will announce the specifics of its polling plan some time next week.
