DENVER — As an elder statesman in the Denver Nuggets’ youthful locker room where the average age runs roughly 25-years-old, Jameer Nelson has a different perspective on life than most of his teammates.
15 years in the league with four different franchises, an NBA Finals and All-Star appearance to his name, the 35-year-old has been around the block a few times. Teammates look to him for advice on everything, not just basketball.
Nelson’s a lead by example type of guy but don’t try and ask him if he relishes being a mentor to either one of Denver’ young point guards Jamal Murray or Emmanuel Mudiay. In fact, he’s knee deep in an ongoing competition with them for the Nuggets’ starting point guard spot.
But Nelson, who grew up in Chester, Pennsylvania, a quiet 33,000 person town that sits on the Delaware River, has a prominent voice on this Nuggets’ team. It’s part of the reason why coach Michael Malone named the veteran to Denver’s four-man security council that also includes Paul Millsap, Gary Harris, and Nikola Jokic, to serve as a mode of communication between staff and players for both basketball and political and social issues that may come up over the course of the season.
After weeks of protests prior to Nuggets Media Day in the National Football League, originally about racial discrimination especially at the hands of police, and then in response to controversial comments made by President Donald Trump, it was clear that players across the NBA would follow suit in some shape or form.
However, unlike the NFL, the league has laws that prohibit players from kneeling during the National Anthem. On page 61 of the league rulebook, it states that “players, coaches, and trainers are to stand and line up in a dignified posture along the sidelines or foul line during the playing of the National Anthem.”
So, as some NFL teams have elected to do over the course of the past few weeks, the Nuggets locked arms to display unity during the National Anthem prior to their Sep. 30 preseason matchup against the Golden State Warriors.
“We all came together as a group and decided that we wanted to show that we’re unified,” Nelson told BSN Denver after practice Friday. “We wanted to show that we’re unified and that we’re together and that we’re trying to help out in any way. We figured that would be the easiest way to show it and not ruffle feathers.
The Nuggets plan to lock arms during the anthem for the duration of the regular season. Nelson also thinks the team should do something in the community to further send that message as well.
“I think we should do something in our community as a team to try to see what’s going on out there just to let people know that we’re human and we want to help,” Nelson continued. “We have open ears and open arms to help people and we already do a good job of being in the community but we can definitely do more.”
The precedent Nelson and the Nuggets could look to is from a familiar face. Brandon Marshall, the Denver Broncos linebacker who also was in on Denver’s July free-agent pitch to Paul Millsap, kneeled during the anthem prior to Denver’s 2016 Thursday night game against the Carolina Panthers and then met with Denver Police Chief Robert White to discuss why he was kneeling and how to further make an impact in the community.
Then, change.
A few months later, the department announced that they had modified their “use-of-force policy.” The policy now encourages officers to use as little force as necessary and provides specific situational guidelines for them to follow. Before Marshall, Colin Kaepernick, the first NFL player to kneel in protest of racial injustices and police brutality against minorities, announced that he is donating $1 million plus all proceeds from his jerseys sales from the 2016 season to organizations working in oppressed communities. Just this week, Kaepernick gave $25,000 to the DREAM Charter School in New York City.
The Nuggets and Warriors preseason tilt last weekend was the league’s first preseason matchup and since then, many other NBA teams have followed suit and locked arms like Denver.
“Unification is the biggest message, in my opinion,” Nelson said. “There’s a lot of crazy things going on in the world. We point fingers, we make assumptions, whatever you want to call it. It starts with you as an individual. Just like on the court. If you get better as an individual, the team gets better. If you’re a better person, the world is better.”
The Nuggets’ message has been sent and received and now it’s time for the players to follow through with their pledge to make their community a better place. Without those next steps, no change is possible.
