A simple Google search results in article after article praising its commitment to progressivism. Even the NBA’s relaxed attitude toward social media and the sharing of gifs and highlights is framed as a form of progressive marketing. The word in that sentence to concentrate on is the last one: marketing. As Richard Lapchick, the director of the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida told The Atlantic, the NBA has consistently received higher grades than all the other male major pro sports leagues when it comes to race- and gender-based diversity. They do so partly because such practices are viewed as a “moral imperative,” he said. But also, “[the NBA] was the first league to understand that diversity and inclusion are also business imperatives.”
