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When Derrick Rose wore an "I Can't Breathe" shirt on Saturday, it was national news. By Monday night's Cavs-Nets game in Brooklyn—where LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Garnett, Deron Williams, Jarrett Jack, and Alan Anderson all followed suit—they had seemingly become the norm. In front of Britain's Royal Couple and with Commissioner Adam Silver in attendance, James and his fellow players asserted the basic right of African-Americans not to get killed by cops. If the St. Louis Rams were a flashpoint last weekend, and Rose a critical moment of acceptance, this was mainstreaming, plain and simple.

A cynic could argue that the Cavs and Nets were able to show out en masse because "I Can't Breathe" is, by now, a relatively safe statement to make. Across the political spectrum, there's very little disagreement that Eric Garner's death was unnecessary and unprovoked. The issue of police violence against minorities was polarizing, if galvanizing, in the case of Ferguson. But as the situation becomes more and more grim, it becomes harder and harder for athletes to remain silent—not because they hold any special responsibility to speak out, but for all the reasons that most decent human beings have felt compelled to support this no-brainer of a cause. Athletes are public figures whose words carry special weight, or at least have the benefit of added visibility. Here, they're just people like anyone else.

If their behavior comes across as boring or uninspiring, it's because real work is getting done. Athletes may not be leading the charge—they aren't putting themselves out there or bearing any burden. They are, however, a good barometer for popular opinion, in much the same way as politicians. And when a formerly controversial, or at least touchy, stance becomes the norm, that's the definition of change. Provoking change is painful; change itself is transformative, if fleeting; and the changed world is as if nothing else could have been the case. The new status quo is exactly that—a new status quo. When athletes feel zero pressure to camouflage their opinions or stand down on an important topic, we've reached a place where, thankfully, the tide has turned and things might start heading in the right direction.

Of course, there's a huge gap between the t-shirts that basketball players wear and the incredible amount of reform and reevaluation that still needs to take place. But public sentiment matters. And when LeBron James feels so comfortable wearing an "I Can't Breathe" t-shirt that his explanation comes out like just another interview cliché, you know we've reached a point where this awareness, this need to think long and hard about how law enforcement works, is practically second nature for a large part of the country. Whether or not Adam Silver is pleased with his league's room for free speech is beside the point; here, the athletes in front of the future King and Queen of England aren't trying to change the minds of others, or push the envelope. They're just doing what everyone else is doing: Looking at a world where things aren't right and knowing it's okay to expect better.