From Silver’s threats to move the All-Star Game from Charlotte because of North Carolina’s transgender bathroom bill to Gregg Popovich’s and Steve Kerr’s rants about Donald Trump to LeBron James and other players wearing “I Can’t Breathe” T-shirts to protest police brutality, the league’s power people have branded themselves as seekers of social justice. But now more than ever, that stance seems little more than artifice, a path of least resistance that bestows nothing but praise on whoever takes it. The notion that criticizing an infantile reality-TV star who has relied on racial demagoguery to fuel his rise to the presidency requires some great measure of courage from anyone affiliated with the league is absurd. If anything, it plays to the NBA’s base, and even those franchise owners who have aligned themselves with Trump – such as Harris – are happy to accept the financial benefits and cultural cachet of speaking out and raising awareness.