In the wake of America's social injustice reckoning after the deaths of several unarmed African Americans, high profile athletes and entertainers have used their platforms to speak out.
Both male and female athletes, along with sports teams, wore T-shirts, canceled games, took a knee, and lent their voices and time to become activists against systemic racism and inequality.
Among such female athletes is Naomi Osaka. The Grand Slam singles champ and queen of the Austrailian and US Opens wore face masks with the names of African Americans murdered by U.S. police. She could be seen wearing a mask with the name of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd to show her support of the movement.
Osaka is making another stand - for another cause - at the tune of being fined $15,000. Osaka has decided to buck trends during the 2021 Roland-Garros tennis tournament by not 'meeting required media obligations that says players must meet with media within 30-minutes of post-game play, per the official Grandslam playbook.
In a statement, Osaka wrote the following, citing concerns for her mental health as the reason she's not attending pressers.
"I've often felt that people have no regard for athletes [sic] mental health and this rings very true whenever I see a press conference or partake in one. We're often sat there and asked questions that we've been asked multiple times before or asked questions that bring doubt into our minds and I'm just not going to subject myself to people that doubt me."
Osaka has been vocal about her own mental wellness since 2018.
We're often told by experts to make sure we take care of our mental health. The topic has become a huge topic of discussion as millions of Americans grapple with their mental well being.
From a person in the media who understands that media does tend to ask the same questions, ask dumb questions, ask irrelevant questions, ask inappropriate questions, we understand, Naomi. We get it. But if every athlete took the Osaka perspective, media wouldn't have too many people left to interview.
I see a compromise on the horizon.
From our perspective, Osaka's taking care of her mentals, and her body, but definitely not her chickens as one athlete recommended to up and coming professional athletes.
Osaka being fined $15,000 is definitely a lot money, even for the world's No. 2 ranked tennis player. She could make a lot of difference with $15,000. Then again, at the expense of all those chickens, maybe she already is making a difference because people are talking.
However, and maybe, just maybe she could take a page out of the Marshawn Lynch playbook to insure she still secures and keeps the bag as she tends to her mentals.
"I'm just here so I won't get fined", said Lynch.
**Update, Saturday, May 31.***
DEVELOPING STORY
Naomi Osaka withdraws from the 2021 French Open tennis tournament.
Read why here.
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