NBA on TNT host Adam Lefkoe dropped by CBS Sports Radio to share his thoughts on civil unrest in America, as protests have erupted worldwide in response to the killing of George Floyd.
Lefkoe urged listeners to not stay silent during this turbulent time.
“If you stand by in this time, when all of this is happening . . . and truly can sit back and go, ‘You know what? I have a feeling it’s going to play itself out just like it did last time and I’m going to sit back and I’m going to let it happen’ – I am just telling you that I consider you guilty,” Lefkoe said on The DA Show. “I do.”
What does Lefkoe want people to do, you ask? Listen.
Lefoke learned the importance of that from studio host Ernie Johnson.
“Where else have you seen a white man on television for three decades heed the floor to three African American men and just listen?” Lefkoe asked. “I think that’s part of the reason why that show is so important to the culture. There’s a reason why the NBA seems to be so much more advanced in terms of having these conversations. Ernie is a white man that listens. Adam Silver is a white man that listens. . . . I think it’s our job right now, as white people, to listen and to really empathize and to understand. I have a very renewed energy. It’s something that matters a lot to me. Silence is violence in this moment.”
In the social media era, people are conditioned to speak and share and post. Too often, however, they fail to listen.
That needs to change.
“Look, a lot of this and a lot of the way that we consume media, people will say, really did change around 2001 because of September 11, when 24/7 news networks had to be started because there was pandemonium,” Lefkoe said. “And then with that became 24/7 sports, and with that became how do we create ratings? And with that became we need argument. Okay, well, if we need argument, we need two points of view. Okay, then we’re going to manufacture those points of view so they get louder – because when they’re louder, people will keep watching. There’s never a part of truly soaking in a message.”