BY: JEREMY HASSON | JULY 17, 2023 | UPDATED JULY 7, 2024
For those fans who subscribe to the “shut up and dribble” position with regards to athletes expressing their politics, there is a strange exception: retired athletes. Retired athletes, weirdly, can do politics. They aren’t subject to the same scrutiny even though, like most people, they may or may not have the “expertise” the “shut up and dribble” notion suggests athletes must have to participate in politics.
I recently came across an Instagram video from a sports memorabilia consigner named Rick Probstein. Probstein’s video showed an autographed baseball from Hall of Famer Rich “Goose” Gossage, in which Gossage inscribed “Trump 2024” and “F*** Joe Biden.” Probstein asked what people thought of Gossage’s message and participation in politics. This went just as well as anyone reading this might think—comments revealed a ton of sympathizers supporting Trump and defending Biden.
But what captured my attention the most was the idea that retired athletes can do whatever they want in terms of speaking on politics. User @floridianphotos summed up some of the discussion with this comment: “I’m a republican. I don’t like when athletes that are currently playing push there (sic) political agenda. However (sic) they have every right to do so. Retired players should feel free to do whatever they want.”
I was puzzled by the difference being made between current, active players and those who retired. It seemed like an exception to the “shut up and dribble” idea. For me, any person, no matter if they are in the spotlight or not, should be able to voice their opinion on politics.
However, the issue of athletes speaking out on politics comes from both the right and the left. If people from the right disagree with left-wing athletes speaking out on politics, it’s all “shut up and dribble.” If people on the left call out right-wing athletes for speaking out politically, it’s the same “shut up and dribble”; however, we usually see Dems get called out for speaking on politics by right-wing people. For example, in February 2018, Fox News pundit Laura Ingraham famously criticized NBA stars LeBron James and Kevin Durant for their criticisms of then-President Trump for being a racist and not being able to name racist quotes from Trump. Ingraham said, “It’s always unwise to seek political advice from someone who gets paid $100 million a year to bounce a ball.” Ingraham then said that nobody voted for LeBron or for Kevin. “Millions voted for Trump to be their coach,” Ingraham continued, “so, keep the political commentary to yourself, or as someone once said, ‘shut up and dribble.’”
LeBron James trolled Laura Ingraham by filing for the trademark of “shut up and dribble” (via ClutchPoints)
These big-time athletes have massive platforms and should be able to use them how they want to better the causes they believe in, no matter if they play for the Dems or the Repubs. It shouldn’t matter if these athletes are retired or still active. Whether you’re an ordinary person or a celebrity, everyone has the right to speak out politically, no matter how much or little we agree with that person, because if we were famous we would want the same respect. Everyone in the United States should be able to speak on politics, as we have a First Amendment right to do so.
Why is it common to see the American public turn a blind eye to retired athletes who are politically active, but currently active athletes get criticized for speaking their political views? It doesn’t make sense because in the social media age, anyone can have a platform, and retired athletes have a bigger platform than ever, or at least since they were playing. Anybody can get their political views or any views they have out there in the click of a button, and if you’re a retired athlete, you can reach tens of thousands of people, if not more. Any athlete, retired or active, should be able to speak on politics without criticism. But that’s not how America works; it doesn’t make sense, and in my opinion, there is no difference in retired versus active athletes talking politics, especially because any common person can do so without criticism. But what do you think?
Works Cited:
Probstein, Rick. “All politics aside guys! Let us know what your opinion is on Politics involved sports? Should both be exclusively unrelated/discrete or no, not at all? Let us know in the comments..” Instagram, uploaded by @probsteinauction, 21 June 2023, https://www.instagram.com/reel/CtxJf3WL-wk/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA%3D%3D. Accessed 1 July 2023.
Illustrated, Sports. “‘Shut up and dribble’ — Fox News’s Laura Ingraham to LeBron and Kevin Durant after their criticism of President Trump.” Twitter, uploaded by Sports Illustrated, 23 June 2015, https://twitter.com/SInow/status/964512313175871488. Accessed 16 Feb. 2018.
ClutchPoints. LeBron James “shut up and dribble?” meme, https://clutchpoints.com/lakers-news-lebron-james-ultimate-troll-move-over-shut-up-and-dribble-slander.
