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MIAMI -- NBA players are being urged to reach out to league and union officials to try and come up with ways to create positive change in communities around the country, a move that comes in response to protests in other sports about racial oppression and other social matters.Players received a memo from the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association on Wednesday, one that announced that the league and the union, working together, have begun developing substantive ways for us to come together and take meaningful action.A copy of the memo was obtained by The Associated Press. It did not remind players of the NBAs rule saying players must stand for the national anthem, something that some athletes in other pro sports have chosen not to do in recent weeks in acts of protest.These ideas are based on the actions many of you have already taken or supported, including convening community conversations in NBA markets to engage young people, parents, community leaders and law enforcement in a candid dialogue, read one excerpt of the memo, signed by both NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and union head Michele Roberts.They also said the game should continue bringing people together and build bonds of trust in our communities.The memo was sent on the same day that each player on the WNBAs Indiana Fever roster took a knee and linked arms with a teammate during the playing of the national anthem that preceded the teams playoff game with the Phoenix Mercury.Well, we thought it was important to have a voice about something greater than basketball, said Indianas Tamika Catchings, the longtime WNBA star who played her final game before retirement.It also came on the same day that Golden State coach Steve Kerr said he expected NBA players to take some sort of stand on the issue. On Thursday, Warriors general manager and president of basketball operations Bob Myers said his team would reach out to civic leaders in the Bay Area and invite them to a panel discussion or other sessions with the team to help educate the players and the organization on social issues.Myers said he has plenty to learn.My only experience with any type of negative stereotype or interaction is being white trying to go play basketball. Thats it, in my life, I will tell you, and that is no standing to understand what its like for guys to grow up not white or African-American or whatever you are, Myers said. Thats the only time in my life where I can say Im actually judged negatively where they go, `This guy cant play, hes white. Thats it, and that doesnt even count. Thats stupid. Its very good that theres been a heightened awareness.The NBA and its players already are involved with several social programs together, including ones promoting mentoring. In the NBA rule book, the wording of the policy related to the anthem is this: Players, coaches and trainers are to stand and line up in a dignified posture along the sidelines or on the foul line during the playing of the National Anthem.Protests during the playing of the anthem have been rare in the NBA, with perhaps the most famed example of one coming 20 years ago when Denvers Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf refused to stand for the anthem because he felt the flag symbolized oppression. He was suspended for a game in March 1996 over his stance.But NBA stars have not been shy about trying to promote social change, and LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony took the stage -- at their own request -- to begin the ESPY Awards broadcast this summer and spoke out about the wave of police shootings that created unrest around the nation in recent months.Their speech was referenced in the memo to players on Wednesday, with Silver and Roberts saying the four stars spoke eloquently about the senseless acts of violence impacting our communities.Im all for people speaking out against injustice, said Kerr, who was 18 when his father -- the president of American University in Beirut -- was murdered. Whatever form that takes, if its non-violent and it leads to conversation, then I think thats a good thing.Oklahoma City general manager Sam Presti said he would like to see Thunder players and staff continue standing for the anthem. He addressed the issue Wednesday, less than a week after an unarmed black man was fatally shot by a white police officer in Tulsa, Oklahoma.Our players have the opportunity and ability to express themselves as people and we respect that above all, Presti said, speaking before the NBAs announcement was distributed.Presti said he was sure the league and the players would be working in concert to find common ground on the issue.The NBA and the players union are usually ahead of these types of situations, Presti said.Thunder guard Victor Oladipo told Complex Sports last week that he expected to see some NBA players taking a knee or acting in a similar fashion to San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, soccers Megan Rapinoe and some NFL players with regard to protests during the anthem.Whatever you believe, believe in to the utmost, Oladipo said. 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"I worked my entire life for it, and it has been taken away from me in one afternoon by a doctor I didnt know," said Troicki, whose ranking peaked at No.NEW YORK -- Dish Network is offering a new skinny bundle of about 50 cable channels that doesnt include ESPN and some other sports channels, giving people who dont care about sports a way to save money on TV without joining the ranks of cord cutters.Sports channels are among the most expensive for cable and satellite TV companies and are usually included in big cable bundles. That drives up the bill for all customers, whether they enjoy watching ball games or not.Dishs new Flex Pack starts at $30 a month, not including fees and taxes, while a big cable bundle typically costs about $90.Dish is not the first cable distributor to sell a smaller basic cable bundle without ESPN, however.Comcast has done so for nearly a decade. And Dishs package is similar to Verizon Fios Custom TV when it launched in April 2015. Verizon also made ESPN (and lots of other channels) add-ons to a smaller cable bundle. Then ESPN sued and other programmers protested. Custom TV was revamped in February to two core bundles, one sports-focused and one not, with fewer options for groups of channels to add.Custom TV has been diluted pretty badly since those changes, said Craig Moffett of MoffettNathanson Research. Verizon spokesman Ray McConville says the revised version of Custom TV is more popular and changes were made in response to customer feedback rather than programmer demands. Verizon settled with ESPN in May.Dish has a good relationship with ESPN and let all the programmers know about the new package, said Warren Schlichting, the Englewood, Colorado, companys executive vice president of marketing, programming and media sales. It takes cooperation on both sides, he said.An ESPN spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment.Moffett says that if entertainment companies dont fight Dish, other cable and satellite companies are likely to copy it, meaning savings for lots of TV lovers who dont watch sports.The Flex package comes as Dishs satellite TV service has been bleeding customers. The traditional TV industry overall has lost about 2 million customers over the past three years, according to research firm SNL Kagan, as online TV alternatives proliferate.Schlichting said that the nnew Dish bundle is not aimed at cord cutters, or people who have canceled traditional TV.dddddddddddd Neither is it meant to compete with Sling, Dishs internet TV package that starts at $20 a month. But it will compete with Dishs existing, bigger bundles and offerings from cable companies and DirecTV.Dishs Flex package has about 50 popular cable channels, including AMC, home to The Walking Dead; channels that show some sports, like TNT; theres also Food Network, FX, A&E and CNN. There are eight groups of channels customers can add that cost extra. Local networks like ABC and CBS cost $10 (theyre also available over the air free with an antenna). Other add-ons include news, sports and kids channels. A DVR costs more, not signing up for autopay means an extra $5 and of course there are the typical taxes that come with cable. Dish says the price of the original bundle stays the same for 2 years. It wont say what the price will be after that.Its cheaper than Dishs other packages, especially if you get local channels with an antenna. But you have to be fine with missing out on popular channels like college-focused regional sports networks, ESPN, Fox News or Disney Channel. If you wanted just those channels, you would have to add a bunch of additional channel packs that bring the bill to $80, more than Dishs existing bundles. Premium channels like HBO are also extra.And then most households will still want fast internet service, which often costs about $40 and higher by itself. Thats a disadvantage for Dish, because cable companies give discounts when customers pay for both TV and internet together.Schlichting said Dish Network Corp. would consider the Flex packages successful if much lower than a majority of customers choose them. Verizon has said the smaller Custom TV cable bundles make up about 40 percent of Fios TV sales.The more successful these sports-less bundles are, the more I think youll see it replicated by peers, said BTIG analyst Rich Greenfield. Thats not good for ESPN, he said, which has already lost millions of subscribers. ' ' '