Transforming the image of black masculinity in the NBA: A rhetorical analysis of the NBA Cares Program

This thesis examines the NBA Cares Week 2013 video as a rhetorical artifact that represents the transformation of the narrative of black masculinity in the NBA. I argue that the images in the NBA Cares Week 2013 video supplant the probability and fidelity of the narrative of black masculinity as presented in the Malice in the Palace brawl between the Detroit Pistons and the Indiana Pacers in 2004. The brawl violated the social contract between fans and players, necessitating the league to find a way to reestablish organizational legitimacy and redefine and preserve the brand of the NBA. Using Walter Fisher's narrative paradigm as a framework, I detail the NBA's shift to social responsibility as a productive strategy to recreate the league's narrative of black masculinity.