Sam Presti "I Think a lot of Good can Come out of Playing Basketball"
Oklahoma City Thunder General Manager Sam Presti is a thoughtful man. That's why when he was asked about his feelings on returning to play, he made sure that we understood there are more important things than basketball going on on in our county.
"I mean, we're a basketball team, and"our job is to play basketball, and I think a lot of good"can come out of playing basketball, as long as it's in the right conditions and the right setting, and again, we've placed our trust in the NBA and the state officials in Florida." There's been so much work that's gone into that. I'm not privy to all of it, but I trust those people implicitly."
What we do know about the league's plan to return is that players will get tested every day, if you test positive that will come with seven days of quarantine, only 1,600 people will be allowed on campus. Families can go into the bubble after the first round.
"We'll have a chance to review everything when it's completed."... "We're certainly excited, but we also can't lose sight of the other issues that are taking place in the country just in general."
If there was one overall theme from Presti's meeting with the media, it was not to lose sight of the current state of affairs in our country. "There are so many things that are taking place, and there's a lot the country has been through a lot the last few months."
And I think we have to be sensitive to that, as well that this is a game, it's a sport, it's entertainment, and it's awesome that we can do this because I do think it's helpful."
"But it's still a game, and these other issues -- what we've got to make sure of is that these other issues don't get ignored because there's something else to focus on.".."And that's why there's so much opportunity for teams to scale change and have sustainable change over time on these topics."
Presti is hoping we all have a conversation with ourselves about where we stand on race relations in America. He also wants us to know that fight never ends and that after the protest stop, then our real work begins.
