While not required, it's important to see one of the future pillars of the NBA using his platform to spread messages of positivity and acceptance.
For Kentucky Basketball's Alumni Game, former center Karl-Anthony Towns took the court wearing a pair of custom Nike Hyperdunks covered in messages responding to recent events and the general temperament of the country. The lateral side of the shoe reads "Love Trumps Hate," while an anti-racism logo appears on the toe.
Towns, just 21 years old, isn't limiting his message to sneakers. Today, he published an article on The Players' Tribune commenting on the recent events in Charlottesville and Donald Trump's response.
"And here’s how I try to look at what happened in Charlottesville: First, there are more of us than there are of them. There are more Americans who want to understand other people — people who look past pigmentation … people who talk with love that can shiver a person’s mind and soul … and people who live to improve not only their families’ lives, but the lives of every family in this beautiful country. There are more of those people than there are people who want to divide, degrade and corrupt us."
Read his full piece here.