Sixers' Doc Rivers Joins NBA's Social Justice Coalition Board

Back in August, the 2020 NBA Playoff run halted for a couple of days. Following the viral video of a Wisconsin man being shot down by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, the Milwaukee Bucks suddenly decided to sit out their playoff game.

The Bucks' decision to boycott the NBA for a day led to a chain reaction around the league as every team on the schedule for the August 26, 2020 slate refused to play. For hours, players within the NBA bubble discussed further steps they could take to help create change in the United States of America.

One of the conversations within the league led to the idea of starting up a league-wide social justice coalition. A few days later, the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association released a join statement regarding the next steps following the protest.

“We had a candid, impassioned, and productive conversation yesterday between NBA players, coaches, and team governors regarding the next steps to further our collective efforts and actions in support of social justice and racial equality."

"The NBA and its players have agreed to immediately establish a social justice coalition, with representatives from players, coaches, and governors, that will be focused on a broad range of issues, including increasing access to voting, promoting civic engagement, and advocating for meaningful police and criminal justice reform."

For the last few months, the NBA has worked on forming the Social Justice Coalition Board. And on Monday, November 9, 2020, Shams Charania of The Athletic reported the league's official board, which contained Philadelphia 76ers coach, Doc Rivers.

The NBA and NBPA agreed to create the Social Justice Coalition -- group to advance equality and social justice -- in aftermath of the Bucks leading teams walking out of games in late August. Adam Silver, Mark Tatum and Michele Roberts will also be on the Board, sources said. https://t.co/oZmRSHEDMa
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 9, 2020

Rivers joins former 76ers assistant and Atlanta Hawks head coach Lloyd Pierce as the coaches who will represent the board. It comes as no surprise Rivers became one of two coaches selected after his nearly ten-minute emotional speech regarding racism and social injustice in America back in August.

While there's still tons of work to do for Rivers and the rest of the NBA's Coalition -- the league is taking a step in the right direction towards fulfilling the players' list of tasks to accomplish following the in-bubble protest back in August.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_