A Year Of Reckoning And Loss In The World Of Sports

Like so much else, the sports world has been rocked by this year’s turbulent events.

For months, the COVID-19 pandemic shut down virtually all sports — amateur and professional — and once games resumed, they were often played in empty arenas and stadiums.

Sports also became politically charged as debates raged over the resumption of the football season. And NBA stars, including LeBron James and Chris Paul, have become outspoken supporters of the protests over racism and police brutality.

Kurt Streeter, a columnist for The New York Times, has been following all these developments. A former nationally ranked tennis player — and the first Black captain of the University of California, Berkeley tennis team — Streeter is the first former professional athlete to write the "Sports of the Times" column.

Steve Paulson spoke with Streeter about this unprecedented year in sports.