How Stacey Abrams inspired Detroit Pistons to fight voter suppression

Before the Detroit Pistons announced a plan to increase voting engagement and enhance voter education this fall, they met with one of the leading voting activists in the country. 

Both basketball and business Pistons staff members met with former Georgia House of Representatives member Stacey Abrams on Wednesday. Abrams, who has been at the forefront of the battle against voter suppression in the United States, encouraged the Pistons to be civically engaged and find ways to solve problems within the community.

Abrams lost the controversial 2018 Georgia gubernatorial election to Republican Brian Kemp by 50,000 votes, and she has seen her national profile rise in the two years since. The election was marred by allegations of voter suppression, including that black voters were disproportionately affected by irregularities in the voting process. 

Her speech to the Pistons was empowering, head coach Dwane Casey and vice chairman Arn Tellem said, and helped to set the tone for the announcements the team made later that day. Among them — The Henry Ford Pistons Performance Center will become a voting center for the Nov. 3 election, and Aug. 4 and Nov. 3 are company-wide paid days off to ensure all employees can vote.

“To me, she was so inspirational and powerful and her message about encouraging us to be civically engaged and make our voices heard as a way of dealing with these issues that we’re facing in our country, and really focusing on the issues that go to the heart of making our society more just,” Tellem said. “She really is one that has been very outspoken on how critical voting is, and improving our society and making it a more just one going forward. That is the means by which we can attack our problems by bringing about change and being advocates for change.”

Tellem even theorized that if Abrams ever wanted to test the NBA coaching waters, she would be successful. 

“She’d be an outstanding head coach in the NBA,” he said. “She was so powerful, so charismatic and she has a tremendous presence about her. She’s just a brilliant and effective communicator that, to me, I hope we can continue. She has ties to Detroit, she mentioned her ties to people who work in our campaign. Her roommate in college and many people that work in the organization, chief of staff. I hope we can get her back to Detroit to speak in person to our players.”

After the election, Abrams founded Fair Fight Action, a nonprofit dedicated to encouraging voter registration and combat voter suppression. The organization filed a lawsuit against the state election board that called attention to the various voting issues plaguing the election. The lawsuit is still ongoing. 

Abrams is currently making a push to join Joe Biden’s 2020 ticket as vice president. She has support from the Pistons. 

“She didn't get discouraged, she didn’t give in, she fought through adversity, which Arn is saying is what we teach as a coach, to keep pursuing, keep playing,” Casey said. 

“She really has dedicated her life to serve. She was a great ambassador for that. I think she would be a great candidate for the vice presidentship. After hearing her speak, I would love to have her speak to the team, talk about fighting through adversity, what it is to get knocked down and bounce back.”