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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The NBA’s annual tradition of honoring the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on his MLK Day continues in 2023 with a schedule featuring nine games.
There will be plenty of action to keep up with around the league on the holiday, but things begin at Charlotte’s Spectrum Center, where the Hornets will host the Celtics for the second time in three days. And while members of this Celtics team have played on some of the game’s biggest stages, the importance of playing on Dr. King’s holiday is not something that gets lost on them.
“It’s an extreme honor,” Jayson Tatum said of Monday’s game in Charlotte. “For one, honoring his legacy and to do it being able to play basketball.
“If you think back, the things that he stood for (and) what he meant — he essentially gave somebody like myself an opportunity to live out my dream as well as people before me and all the kids after me.”
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During a weekend where players around the league honor Dr. King by warming up in shirts that read “now is the time to make justice a reality for all,” his message — and dream — lives on in many ways.
Malcolm Brogdon, who is midway through his first year with the Celtics, shared a similar sentiment as Tatum, adding that the honor of playing on the holiday is because, “he’s the reason why a lot of us — especially the players of color in the league — are playing at this level, playing in this association and are able to do the things we do every day.”
It was Dr. King’s efforts and message that paved the way for a groundbreaking organization like the Celtics to break barriers in sport, which included Red Auerbach’s implementation of the league’s first-ever all-Black starting five and hiring of the NBA’s first-ever Black coach, Bill Russell.
In a season that has doubled as a year-long celebration of Russell’s legacy following his passing, the Celtics’ weekend trip in North Carolina also featured a tribute to one of the game’s biggest champions of social justice. On Saturday night, the Hornets recognized the league-wide retirement of No. 6 with a banner in the Spectrum Center rafters.
Honoring the great Bill Russell. pic.twitter.com/Ahvyv98thQ
— Charlotte Hornets (@hornets) January 15, 2023
As each team on Monday suits up with uniforms bearing a No. 6 patch to honor Russell and shirts that feature King’s messaging, the legacies of those that paved the way — and their families — will be well-represented.
“We can’t stress how thankful we are for him and his legacy and the things that he stood for while he was on this earth,” Tatum added. “Being able to honor him and his family on MLK Day is a big privilege and honor, and I’m excited.”
