Blazers‘ forward Carmelo Anthony has won the first ever Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Social Justice Champion award, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Anthony was chosen by a selection committee composed of notable social justice leaders such as Abdul-Jabbar, Director of The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport Dr. Richard Lapchick, student activist Teyonna Lofton, National Urban League President and CEO Marc Morial, UnidosUS President and CEO Janet Murguía, Rise Founder and CEO Amanda Nguyen, and NBA Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer Mark Tatum.
Fellow finalists were Harrison Barnes of the Kings, Sixers forward Tobias Harris, Jrue Holiday of the Bucks and Juan Toscano-Anderson of the Warriors, writes Alex Kennedy of BasketballNews.com.
Every finalist receives a $25,000 contribution to a social justice organization of their choice, and Anthony will receive a $100,000 contribution to his choice of organization.
Anthony’s contributions as a social justice champion include working on issues of systemic racism, police brutality, and criminal justice reform. He launched the Carmelo Anthony Foundation 15 years ago to provide community outreach to fuel change and social reforms in local communities. In 2020, he served as guest Editor-in-Chief for Slam Magazine’s Special Social Justice Issue.
Snitches get stitches
Fake award
Not a fan of feminism, civil rights, LGBTQ rights, or multiculturalism?
Congrats Carmelo. Great to see the league rallying around causes like this. I realize an award like this is nominal, but the more things like this get attention/publicity/taken seriously, the more likely we are to see material outcomes.
Not to mention an old head setting an example for everyone else. Good stuff.
The same guy who disrespects women publicly is winning the award for telling others how to think and act? Got it
Isnt he going thru a divorce because he cheated on his wife?? Anyways, Melo did learn to be selfless team player in Portland, and proved everybody wrong that he could still play in NBA.
What does social justice have to do with cheating?
I am really confused ’bout that?
But, hey I don’t really mind, ’bout social justice I mean, cheating, yes that is the worst thing a man can do, agree with that!