:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/67078752/1206490156.jpg.0.jpg)
Russell Westbrook has never been the guy to make a quiet fashion statement.
Now, he’s partnering with the NBA Players Association to allow players the opportunity to advocate for social justice, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Sources: The NBPA is partnering with Russell Westbrook’s clothing line to design social justice shirts for all NBA players to incorporate some messages that were not approved for jerseys.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 19, 2020
Westbrook’s clothing line, Honor the Gift, was founded in 2016. According to the website, Honor the Gift was “inspired by Russell Westbrook’s youth” and is “a body of work with a focus on quality, purpose and storytelling.”
Westbrook’s newest business move will certainly do that. Westbrook’s new collection will allow players to wear messages and statements that were not allowed on NBA jerseys for social justice messages.
Sources: Message options for new NBPA/Russell Westbrook lifestyle shirts: Systemic Racism, Police Reform, I Can’t Breathe, No Justice No Peace, Break the Cycle, Strange Fruit, By Any Means, Power to the People, Equality, Am I Next? https://t.co/N5uXh7Ss9L
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 19, 2020
Originally, the league proposed that social justice messages were only supposed to be worn on the back of the jersey for a limited time during the bubble, but players pushed for it to be worn for the entire Orlando restart.
Now, Westbrook’s clothing line and partnership with the NBPA doubles down on the players’ ideas to use their platform.