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There's been a transition in sports from social activism to social service since the apex of social protests in the sixties.  Today's athletes are discouraged from identifying with a progressive or unpopular cause, the way Bill Russell, Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown, Wilma Rudolph, Althea Gibson, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, and Oscar Robertson did in the 1960's  when the civil rights movement was seen a destructive and disruptive.  Their activism helped to bread down barriers and increase pay and open doors for others, including those who hadn't protested. Still, we must not forget that they were strongly discouraged from their activism and harshly rebuked by the powers that be.  (Dyson, Michael Eric, Tears We Cannot Stop- A Sermon to White America, St. Martin Press, New York, NY (2017, Pp. 121, 122))