Apparently The Banana Boat Boys Turned Some People Off With Their ESPY's Speech

Carmelo, LeBron, Dwyane Wade & Chris Paul asked to open the ESPYs w/this speech on race/the police. Wanted to call other athletes to action.

— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) July 14, 2016

Ugghhh, just a disgusting display. Little heads up guys, you get paid over 20 million dollars a year to put a ball in a hoop, not get on stage and address the single biggest issue currently facing the country. What makes four of the most prominent African American athletes think that we need to hear their thoughts on an increasingly polarizing racial divide? How about a little self awareness? The ESPY's have a very strict time slot and we're wasting valuable segments on discussing the important of coming together as a people and non-violently standing for what's right? Don't they realize that there are some super important, mid-season hail mary's to acknowledge?

When did award shows become more about influential people using a widely disseminated platform to bring more attention to commendable causes than about passing out mantle pieces to those very same influential people? I honestly feel robbed. Robbed of my innocence by having to hear how uneasy even the most famous of black people still feel in this country, and robbed of the time that would have been better spent listening to a WWE wrestler make jokes at expense of semi-perturbed athletes. Can't we just limit the 'Banana Boat Boys' airtime to when they are in gym shorts and have a basketball in their hands? Since when are they allowed to just decide that they want to speak freely in an attempt to get people to band together for equal rights and against unnecessary gun violence? The last thing the viewing audience needs is an introspective, all encompassing, pacifistic look into the depths of our nation's ever present issues. If the producers were looking for that then they would have invited Leonardo DiCaprio to discuss a real problem like global warming. 

I'm not saying you have to care what a handful of NBA players think about social issues, but if you turned that speech off halfway through in protest of left wing propaganda, 'Black Lives Matter', or gun control then you truly don't get it. Sadly, it's becoming harder and harder to believe that you ever will.