Stephen Jackson has called out the NBA for not supporting Ice Cube's Big3 basketball league while also claiming he was "the face of the biggest civil rights movement ever."
During a conversation with Playmaker, the former NBA player took time out to speak on Adam Silver and the NBA not supporting the Big3 league. According to Jackson, the NBA has no reason not to be involved, especially when the league is filled with former NBA players.
He also claimed he was the face of the George Floyd protests, which he called "the biggest civil rights movement ever," and used that to criticize the NBA for not aligning with former players who are making an effort to push for social justice and change.
"This is the only Black-owned professional league, we need to come out and support it, and I've been his guy since year one. He'll tell you I just want to see him win," Jackson said. "There's no reason for the NBA to not support this league, it's all ex-NBA players."
He continued, "I'm going to give you a perfect example, I'm the face of the biggest civil rights movement ever with the George Floyd [protests], I'm an NBA champion, played in the NBA, the NBA didn't reach out to me for the Black Lives Matter, the movement for social justice or for equality.
"But you have a player that's the face of the movement, why you not reaching out? So they don't move how we supposed to move, they move how they wanna move."
Jackson's comments arrive after Ice Cube previously called out the NBA and dissed Adam Silver during an interview with Tucker Carlson earlier this month. According to Cube, the NBA's initiatives for social justice are "pretty full of shit."
"The NBA is full of great slogans, and they write Black Lives Matter on the court, and they do all those things but pretty full of shit when the rubber meets the road," Cube said. "It's as easy as saying, 'We're gonna donate $100 million to it.' You know, it's like an easy thing to do. All they gotta do is call up the graphics guy and approve the comp."
He continued, "It's easy for them to put that on the court. It takes a little more effort to really care to work with a league like the Big3. You gotta really want to make a difference."
When Carlson asked Cube if he thinks Silver embodies the spirit of basketball, the rapper laughed off the statement while saying the NBA commissioner played for the "New York Lawyers" and that "he rode the bench" as a "water boy."
