“The gun should never be an option,” Carmelo Anthony says in a candid head-on commercial aired nationally this past holiday season, noting how he himself could have been a victim of gun accessibility if he hadn’t had the opportunity and talent to become an NBA All-Star.
Anthony, along with his other NBA All-Star brothers, shared his personal experience with the deadliness of easy gun-accessibility. “Every day someone was getting killed so you became immune to that.”
“End Gun Violence,” a series of public service announcements sponsored by the partnership of the NBA with former New York Mayor Bloomberg’s organization “Everytown for Gun Safety,” has been making waves ever since its holiday season media blitz.
“In a move with little precedent in professional sports, the NBA is putting the weight of its multibillion-dollar brand and the prestige of its star athletes behind a series of television commercials calling for an end to gun violence,” states the New York Times.
While millions watched from their homes, they heard the words of their NBA heroes speaking out against a simple plague almost too common for such a rich nation, a society saturated with news of gun violence, again, according to the Times.
“I’ve been blessed to play for the Chicago Bulls for nine years now,” Joakim Noah said in his own interview, “and Chicago’s been like a second home to me. As much as I love it, the biggest issue is the gun violence. The access to guns is out of control.”
Noah wears a sterling-silver teardrop necklace. When asked about its significance he explains what it means. “It’s the drop of consciousness. The drop of consciousness is a necklace that my mother created; she sculpted it about 20 years ago. It represents tears for those lost in the gun violence.”
The words of these NBA stars speaking their hearts can be found on YouTube, and the mission of Everytown for Gun Safety is just a click away.
Click.
