On Wednesday, a unique partnership with anti-gun violence advocacy group Everytown For Gun Safety was announced by the National Basketball Association (NBA). The partnership will feature a number of Public Service Announcements (PSA) starting this Christmas.

They have already released a 30-second spot, which includes interviews with Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah, New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony, Los Angeles Clippers point guard Chris Paul and Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry. It also includes interviews with the family members and survivors affected by gun violence.

The NBA will continue to telecast the video throughout the season, as stated by Jason Rzepka, director of cultural engagement at Everytown.

"The NBA has made it clear that they view this as a campaign, not just as a single PSA," Rzepka said to SB Nation.

According to Everytown, 88 Americans lose their lives through gunfire every day. To create awareness on the issue, the Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund went ahead with the collaboration with NBA and Spike Lee.

Everytown for Gun Safety, was founded by former New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and the aim of the organisation is to expand background checks of gun buyers, strengthen the penalties infused for gun trafficking and also prevent sales of guns to people who are accused of domestic abuse.

The involvement of NBA stresses the seriousness of the issue in America, which saw highly publicised mass shootings, gun deaths and many other small-scale incidents in the past year.

Beside the NBA athletes, the survivors of the shootings as well as the relatives of those who lost their lives have been featured in the ad. Andy Parker was one of them, who lost his daughter, Alison, a television reporter in Virginia to gunfire in the middle of a live broadcast. She was shot by a former co-worker.

NBA who has had public service partnerships before with Habitat for Humanity and the Boys and Girls Clubs, forays for the first time into guns and it reflects a political awakening inside the basketball league, which does not feature its executives but its players.

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