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How will the NBA handle #MeToo?

ANALYSIS | Previously, it has been progressive on sexuality, gender and human rights

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March 23, 2018 at 1:41 p.m. EDT

Adapted from a story by The Washington Post’s Tim Bontemps.

It was only a matter of time that #MeToo would arrive in the NBA.

So when Sports Illustrated published a bombshell investigation into the Dallas Mavericks last month, describing “a corporate culture rife with misogyny and predatory sexual behavior,” it was no surprise to women like Nancy Hogshead-Makar, the chief executive officer of Champion Women, an advocacy group for women’s rights in sports. “Sports is a huge part of our society, and heretofore was seen as a boys’ prerogative. I have no doubt that it’s going to go through all the professional leagues.”

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Now that pro basketball must confront these issues, the question is: What will be the response of perhaps the country’s most progressive league?

The NBA

It was the first of the four major professional sports leagues to have an openly gay player (former Brooklyn Nets center Jason Collins), employ the first full-time female assistant coach (San Antonio Spurs assistant Becky Hammon), moved the All-Star Game out of Charlotte after North Carolina passed anti-LGBT legislation and banned then-Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling for life after recordings surfaced of him making racist comments.

The NBA is in a position to not only address the situation in Dallas, but to try to prevent incidents like this from occurring in the future.

Its history

Both the NBA and society as a whole are in far different places than in 2004, when prominent star Kobe Bryant was shuttling back and forth between playing for the Los Angeles Lakers and standing trial for sexual assault in Eagle, Colo., or in 2006-07, when the New York Knicks were embroiled in a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by former employee Anucha Browne Sanders.

Bryant was eventually acquitted (though he later settled for an undisclosed amount in a civil suit), and Browne Sanders agreed to an $11.5 million settlement with the Knicks.

In December Bryant’s jersey retirement ceremony was held with hardly a mention of anything that happened in Colorado. Bryant also won an Oscar this month for his animated short film “Dear Basketball” at an Academy Awards ceremony replete with ties to the #MeToo movement.

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“To me, the NBA [was], if I can use the term, a little bit reckless, in how they approached that situation of Kobe’s jersey retirement, and everything that went with that,” said Kathy Redmond, the founder of the National Coalition Against Violent Athletes. “It does go back to, wow, do rape allegations really hurt anybody? We’re told that it destroys reputations. Does it really?”

Moving forward

The NBA now finds itself in a place where its fan base is looking to see how the organization will respond to the Mavericks’ situation. The focus of that response has largely come down to how the league will choose to discipline Cuban personally for everything that took place.

At this point, it seems the likely punishment for Cuban is a $2.5 million fine — the maximum amount NBA Commissioner Adam Silver is allowed to levy, per the league’s bylaws and constitution — and a suspension of some to-be-determined length.

The specifics of the eventual punishment will serve as a guide for how the league can both address prevent such situations moving forward.

Response

The NBA has started to implement changes in the wake of the Sports Illustrated report. It has created a confidential hotline accessible to employees of all 30 teams as well as anyone working in the league office that allows employees to privately report any issues — including harassment, illegality and other misconduct — without fear of reprisal. It has also updated its “Respect in the Workplace” policies, and discussed it with every franchise.

“This alleged conduct [in the Sports Illustrated story] runs counter to the steadfast commitment of the NBA and its teams to foster safe, respectful and welcoming workplaces for all employees,” Mike Bass, the NBA’s executive vice president of communications, said in a statement. “Such behavior is completely unacceptable and we will closely monitor the independent investigation into this matter.”

Cuban and the Mavericks have also taken the step of hiring a woman, Cynthia Marshall, as the team’s interim chief executive officer, with her stated goal being to ensure the investigation is completed and the culture within the franchise begins to change.

“I really want to see us as a model of how to respond to this,” said Marshall at her introductory news conference late last month. “This is going on all around the country. I want us to be a model.”