NBA Opening Night: Warriors, Blazers and the Gaza Genocide

“Who was I to stop the killing?” -Interview R01 from Kjell Anderson's interviews with perpetrators of the Rwandan genocideKigali Central Prison, July 2009

The Golden State Warriors' 2024-25 season began on Wednesday when they faced the Portland Trail Blazers. It marked the beginning of the post-Splash Brothers era in Golden State. The Warriors enter the season without a clear second offensive threat, which could come with Steph Curry. However, they hope to make up for their relative lack of star power with impressive depth.

That's how you could describe it.

Another is less removed from the world and perhaps desperate. It marks the start of the second NBA season since Israel's military invasion of Gaza, which was declared a genocide by the UN Human Rights Council and the International Court of Justice. It was the deadliest year and the largest displacement of Palestinians in decades.

Still, the NBA has refrained from criticizing Israel, with no notable players or league officials commenting on the state's actions — and a few have publicly supported Israel.

Warriors head coach Steve Kerr and superstar point guard Steph Curry have both faced harsh criticism from the American right over the years for their liberal politics. Both supported Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, but did not publicly call for the current vice president to curb U.S. military support for Israel.

Blazers starting forward Deni Avdija is even more directly linked to the scares. Avdija served in the Israel Defense Forces in 2020, shortly after the International Criminal Court concluded in a 2019 report that “war crimes have been or are being committed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip.” He has spoken proudly about his service and expressed solidarity with IDF soldiers since the invasion of Gaza.

Yet silence was the defining treatment with which NBA players addressed Israel's genocide against the Palestinians.

“One person couldn’t stop it.” -Interview R39 from Kjell Anderson’s Interviews with Perpetrators of the Rwandan Genocide, Nyarusenge TIG Camp, August 2009.

The police murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor had already triggered massive actions worldwide in August 2020. The long history of racist policing in the United States, as well as the long list of police killings of black people, had garnered national attention over the past decade and emerged as one of the largest American movements of the century.

On August 23, Kenosha County Police Officer Rusten Sheskey shot Jacob Blake seven times in the side and back. The incident was captured on video by a community member and quickly spread.

A few days later, the Milwaukee Bucks began a wildcat strike and refused to play their first-round playoff game against the Magic. The NBA quickly postponed all playoff games, prompting several other professional sports leagues to follow suit.

The NBA players, who were in Florida due to the COVID-19 pandemic and living in the 2020 NBA bubble at Disney World, considered leaving the season in protest. They ultimately decided against it, influenced by a call from former President Barack Obama, and opted to accept some concessions from the league to address future social justice concerns and immediately encourage voting. However, the players vowed to remain steadfast in the fight against injustice.

“My participation didn't mean much – these people would have been killed even if I had done nothing.” -Interview R62 from Kjell Anderson's Interviews with Perpetrators of the Rwandan Genocide, Mont Kigali TIG Camp, October 2009.

Systems of oppression find a way to work with each other. It is Israel that has worked hand in hand with the American police and promoted the militarization of local authorities. These relationships will only grow stronger as several cities use the 2020 protests as justification to pour money into new police complexes, such as Atlanta's Cop City. The very police departments that perpetrated the harassment and murder that brought NBA players to the brink of canceling their seasons are somehow being given more resources as a supposed solution.

It was Israel whose defense industry depended on the white supremacist apartheid regime in South Africa while the rest of the world isolated them for trade.

It is the Israeli army that is killing children in Gaza.

It is the United States that has spent nearly $18 billion in military aid to Israel without making any serious effort to reduce the civilian death toll.

“I had no power to prevent the genocide.” -Interview R76 from Kjell Anderson's Interviews with Perpetrators of the Rwandan Genocide, Kigali Central Prison, October 2009.

Every genocide ends.

A community is either wiped out or given the chance to rebuild from the rubble.

When it comes to the future of the Palestinian people, the message from American politicians and businesses is clear: they have no power to prevent genocide.

No American politician has promoted Israeli expansion more passionately than Joe Biden. Kamala Harris has refused to distance herself from Biden as he sends more weapons and troops and supports Israel as it expands its military rampage into Lebanon. And if the Democrats are defeated, Donald Trump will happily sign his name to bombs designed to shed Palestinian blood.

But when did our imagination forget that the president is not the only person with power?

Because I remember 2020.

A virus began to ravage the world. The global economy had been brought to its knees. And there were police murders on video circulating. But the people have not succumbed to the president's power. They did not give in to the power of their bosses.

I remember NBA players refusing ownership and threatening to leave the playoffs because they saw injustice in the world and were tired of pretending it was normal to remain untouched.

The NBA regular season is back. Every fan base has the hope that comes with the start of a new season. Maybe a championship. Maybe just the exciting development of a young player. Maybe an unexpected playoff appearance.

But perhaps the 2024-25 season will bring NBA players back to social justice movements and using their power to help those in need.

And maybe we will all follow.

More than a million Palestinians still live in Gaza.

A community is either wiped out or given the chance to rebuild from the rubble.