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Los Angeles Lakers are bringing social awareness to the masses!

Ronald Agers|
LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 4: Jason Collins Talks to the media prior to the pre-season game between the the Sacramento Kings and the Los Angeles Lakers on October 4, 2018 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 4: Jason Collins Talks to the media prior to the pre-season game between the the Sacramento Kings and the Los Angeles Lakers on October 4, 2018 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)

The Los Angeles Lakers are using their platform to bring social awareness to the forefront.

The Los Angeles Lakers provided a lot of excitement around the Staples Center when they collected their first victory in the LeBron James era by outlasting the Sacramento Kings 128-123.

The Lake Show crew was all over the coverage as Brandon Ingram sent a message that he is ready to be a major player in the Lakers success this season in support of LeBron. Ingram staked his claim scoring 31 points and corralling ten rebounds.

What had the Staples Center rocking was the defense in the fourth quarter, when he just disrupted the Kings offense while providing his own with a number of big shots.

For more in-depth coverage check this out…

But there were more things that were going on at the Staples Center than just basketball…

https://twitter.com/SacramentoKings/status/1047888739718987778?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1047888739718987778&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Flakeshowlife.com%2F2018%2F10%2F05%2Flos-angeles-lakers-takeaways-128-123-win-kings%2F

The Los Angeles Lakers celebrated their first annual Pride Night and honored Jason Collins for his efforts in the LGBTQ community. He had a tweet after the game…

Jason Collins made sports history by becoming the first openly gay male active player in all four American sports back in 2014. Since then Collins has tried to provide support for athletes that faced the same challenges he faces and gives out advice and guidance.

Collins’ statement on his partnership with the NBA to create an environment of awareness for gay athletes and others as well courtesy of ESPN.

"“Definitely hoped that there would be more players who would step up because I know I’m not alone,” Collins said before the Lakers played the Kings at Staples Center in a preseason game. “I’m in contact with some people who are in professional sports in the big four and aren’t ready to publicly come forward yet. My job with the NBA now is to try to create an environment that makes them feel comfortable to step forward and also to tell our allies that we need them to step forward as well.”"

Jason Collins is an NBA Global Ambassador and diversity advocate for the NBA. Los Angeles was the place where he made history in his first game after he made his announcement. He was on a ten-day contract with the Brooklyn Nets when he faced the Lakers back on February 23, 2014.

I actually did a piece on the subject while covering the Chicago Bulls for FanSided’s Pippen Ain’t Easy…

The goal here with Jason Collins, along with the Los Angeles Lakers, up to Ms. Jeanie Buss, who dyed her hair and wearing a Lakers Pride Night t-shirt, is to get the NBA to a place where the WNBA is at today.

Collins again on the subject…

"“To have it like in the WNBA, where a player like a Sue Bird can step forward, and everyone is like, ‘Great, go win that championship,'” Collins said. “And that’s exactly what she just did. Or what happened with Elena Delle Donne right before the Rio Olympics, same type thing and everyone’s like, ‘Great, now go win a gold medal.’"

Collins believes that the NBA is “the best overall with regards to being an ally” in this cause.

He’s absolutely right. Our commissioner, Adam Silver, totally gets what diversity means and has been a visionary to the league from day one.

We all know that the All-Star game is in Charlotte, North Carolina this year. What many may not remember is that the game was supposed to be there two years ago. The state instituted a “bathroom bill” also known as HB2 which required transgender people to use the bathrooms that matched their birth certificates.

While Silver waited patiently for NC to deal with the situation, the state did not move quickly enough for the NBA’s liking and moved the All-Star game out.

League statement years back courtesy of the New York Post.

"“The NBA has decided to relocate the 2017 All-Star Game from Charlotte with the hope of rescheduling for 2019,” Thursday’s league statement read. “Since March, when North Carolina enacted HB2 and the issue of legal protections for the LGBT community in Charlotte became prominent, the NBA and the Charlotte Hornets have been working diligently to foster constructive dialogue and try to effect positive change.“While we recognize that the NBA cannot choose the law in every city, state, and country in which we do business, we do not believe we can successfully host our All-Star festivities in Charlotte in the climate created by HB2. We look forward to re-starting plans for our All-Star festivities in Charlotte for 2019 provided there is an appropriate resolution to this matter.”"

The NBA has fined players for using gay slurs. A couple of Lakers have fallen under this scenario…

Kobe Bryant was fined $100,000 for a gay slur back in 2011.

Rajon Rondo was ejected from a game and suspended for another without pay for “directing a derogatory and offensive term toward a game official and not leaving the court in a timely manner upon his ejection” in 2015.

Both apologized in their respective incidents and stated their emotions got the best of them.

As you can see below, that wasn’t the only social issue of the night…

It seems that LeBron James wanted to let a couple things be known as well…

If you have been following Lake Show Life the last couple of months, you would know that we have been covering LeBron James’ exploits off the court from his business ventures…

to his talk show…

But that t-shirt means a lot more. The Colin Kaepernick story came back to the forefront when Nike made him the face of the Just Do It! campaign. With James being the biggest draw at Nike and the NBA season coming in less than ten days, you know he will be the next huge Nike promotion.

It was laid out here in detail here…

If you are a Los Angeles Lakers fan, you need to be proud of your team. This is a big deal. Stereotypes are being battled and shut down because of the courage of our league and one of the most iconic franchises in history is at the head of the line to support…

I’ll let the man of the hour, Jason Collins close this out…

"“Our league has a lot of people of color and know what it’s like to be the only person of color in the room. So how did you feel in that moment? You want to feel wanted, you want to feel accepted. And to share that message and that is why you want to support your teammates, these are your brothers out there, to have their back and make everyone feel accepted.”"

Enough said

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