Duke Basketball: Marvin Bagley III won’t shy away from social issues

After the NBA’s Rookie Transition Program this week, a former Duke basketball player made ears perk up by stating his intentions to speak up about matters important to him.

When he was on the court playing for the Duke basketball team last season, Marvin Bagley III seemed to be a quiet, almost shy kind of guy who let his game make all the noise.

And that game was loud enough for Bagley to be named ACC Player of the Year as a freshman and to earn him an enormous contract after being selected second in the NBA Draft by the Sacramento Kings.

However, following the NBA’s Rookie Transition Program this week in Parsippany, N.J., Bagley implied that he won’t be limited to just making noise with his play. It seems when it comes to speaking up about social issues, he is planning to be more of a Lebron James than a Michael Jordan.

As reported by Michael Shapiro of Sports Illustrated after the conclusion of the event that is intended to help rookies learn the basics of living in the spotlight as a professional, Bagley made it clear that he plans to practice being a social activist when his opinions become too strong not to talk about.

"“There have been times where I wanted to say something about certain things, but I was hesitant to speak out because I didn’t want anything to happen,” Bagley said. “But seeing a guy like LeBron speak up and use the platform he has, it’s definitely something I want to do. I don’t want to be afraid to say what I have to say.”"

In other words, if President Donald Trump ever uses a tweet to discuss Bagley’s intelligence as he recently did with the intelligence of James, he should probably count on hearing a response in some form from the 6-foot-11 forward.

While Bagley did not specify what medium he will use when he feels compelled to make a social statement, it could come in the form of rap lyrics. So far in his music career, though, Bagley has mostly used his lyrics to address topics such as his intention to become a billionaire by the age of 23.

But instead of making headlines by announcing a new album, Bagley garnered attention this week from the press for his spoken quote at the NBA’s three-day event for soon-to-be rookies — held each year several months before the start of the regular season.

The event included speeches from former NBA players about topics ranging from ways to manage money to tips for taking care of one’s health to pointers on how to speak to the media. One of the men who spoke at this year’s event to the newest batch of young basketball professionals also happens to be another former Duke basketball standout — Grant Hill.