NBA Meltdown: Players Boycott All Playoff Games in Response to Jacob Blake Incident
Making their strongest statement yet in the fight against perceived racial injustice, players from six NBA teams decided not to play postseason games on Wednesday in a boycott that quickly reverberated across other professional leagues.
Also called off: some games in Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer and the three WNBA contests, as players across four leagues decided the best way to use their platform and demand change was to literally step off the playing surface.
Players made the decisions to protest the shooting by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Sunday of Jacob Blake, a black man, apparently in the back while three of his children reportedly looked on.
According to the Wisconsin Department of Justice, Blake told police he had a knife in his possession at the time the incident occurred.
Police shot Blake after he apparently ignored their commands, walked toward his vehicle and appeared to reach inside of it. On Wednesday, the Wisconsin DOJ said police recovered a knife on the floorboard of his car.
Kenosha is about 40 miles south of Milwaukee. That city’s NBA team, the Bucks, started the boycotts Wednesday by refusing to emerge from their locker room to play a playoff game against the Orlando Magic.
“There has been no action, so our focus today cannot be on basketball,” said Bucks guard Sterling Brown, who joined teammate George Hill in reading a statement on the team’s behalf.
Full statement from the Milwaukee Bucks: pic.twitter.com/jjGEyVcCmB
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) August 26, 2020
Brown has a federal lawsuit pending against the city of Milwaukee alleging he was targeted because he was black and that his civil rights were violated in January 2018 when officers used a stun gun on him after a parking violation.
Other games that were not played: NBA playoff games between Oklahoma City and Houston, and the Los Angeles Lakers and Portland along with three WNBA games, three MLB games and five MLS matches. Two members of the St. Louis Cardinals sat out their team’s game with the Kansas City Royals as well.
The NBA’s board of governors has called a meeting on Thursday to discuss the new developments, said a person with knowledge of the situation. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the meeting plan was not revealed publicly.
“The baseless shootings of Jacob Blake and other black men and women by law enforcement underscores the need for action,” the NBA Coaches Association said in a statement. “Not after the playoffs, not in the future, but now.”
The statement by the Bucks also called for state lawmakers to reconvene and take immediate action “to address issues of police accountability, brutality and criminal justice reform.”
The Milwaukee Bucks have boycotted Game 5 of their First Round series vs. the Orlando Magic this afternoon.
The team provided the following statement: pic.twitter.com/ul5rMlitlS
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) August 26, 2020
“I couldn’t agree more. Thank you, Bucks,” Democratic Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers tweeted.
“It is imperative for the Wisconsin State Legislature to reconvene after months of inaction and take up meaningful measures to address issues of police accountability, brutality, and criminal justice reform.”
I couldn’t agree more. Thank you, @Bucks. https://t.co/TvIiVsmuHX
— Governor Tony Evers (@GovEvers) August 27, 2020
The NBA did not say when Wednesday’s games would be played or if Thursday’s schedule of three more games involving six other teams would be affected.
NBA players and coaches met for nearly three hours Wednesday night to determine next steps, including whether the season should continue. They did not come to a consensus, a person with knowledge of the meeting told AP.
According to the Los Angeles Times’ Brad Turner, Lakers forward LeBron James and Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard both said during the meeting they didn’t think the playoffs should continue.
Sources: Lakers forward LeBron James and Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard both spoke up in the players meeting Wednesday night and were adamant about not playing the rest of the playoffs and they wanted change. The players will have another meeting at 11 am East time Thursday.
— Brad Turner (@BA_Turner) August 27, 2020
The Lakers and Clippers both voted to stop playing, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported.
“Sources: Miami’s Udonis Haslem spoke and essentially told everyone in room that — without Lakers and Clippers, how will season continue?” he added. “LeBron James walked out. Rest of Lakers and Clippers exited behind him.”
Sources: Miami’s Udonis Haslem spoke and essentially told everyone in room that — without Lakers and Clippers, how will season continue?
LeBron James walked out. Rest of Lakers and Clippers exited behind him.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 27, 2020
“We fully support our players and the decision they made,” Bucks owners Marc Lasry, Wes Edens and Jamie Dinan said in a joint statement after Milwaukee players decided to not take the floor. “Although we did not know beforehand, we would have wholeheartedly agreed with them. The only way to bring about change is to shine a light on the racial injustices that are happening in front of us.”
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) August 26, 2020
Added Jeanie Buss, the Governor of the Lakers, in a tweet: “I stand behind our players, today and always. After more than 400 years of cruelty, racism and injustice, we all need to work together to say enough is enough.”
I was excited to see us play – and hopefully close out our series – tonight. But I stand behind our players, today and always. After more than 400 years of cruelty, racism and injustice, we all need to work together to say enough is enough. #JusticeForJacobBlake #WeHearYou
— Jeanie Buss (@JeanieBuss) August 26, 2020
Several NBA players, including the Lakers’ James, tweeted out messages demanding change. Some teams did the same.
“We weren’t given advanced notice about the decision but we are happy to stand in solidarity with Milwaukee, Jacob, and the entire NBA community,” Orlando guard Michael Carter-Williams said. “Change is coming.”
Magic guard Michael Carter-Williams: “We weren’t given advanced notice about the decision but we are happy to stand in solidarity with Milwaukee, Jacob, and the entire NBA community. Change is coming.”
— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) August 26, 2020
Magic players and referees were on the court as if the game was happening, unaware that Milwaukee did not intend to take the floor. The National Basketball Referees Association said it “stands in solidarity” with the players.
“Players have, once again, made it clear — they will not be silent on this issue,” National Basketball Players Association Executive Director Michele Roberts said. The NBPA is expected to be part of Thursday’s meeting with the board of governors.
Demanding societal change and ending perceived racial injustice has been a major part of the NBA’s restart at Walt Disney World. The phrase “Black Lives Matter” is painted on the arena courts, players are wearing messages urging change on their jerseys and coaches are donning pins demanding racial justice as well.
Many players wrestled for weeks about whether it was even right to play, fearing that a return to games would take attention off the deaths of, among others, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd in recent months.
Taylor, a 26-year-old black woman, was fatally shot when police officers burst into her Louisville, Kentucky apartment using a no-knock warrant during a narcotics investigation on March 13. The warrant was in connection with a suspect who did not live there and no drugs were found.
Then on May 25, Floyd died after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed a knee into the black man’s neck for nearly nine minutes — all captured on a cell phone video.
Hill said after Blake’s shooting that he felt players shouldn’t have come to Disney.
“We’re the ones getting killed,” Los Angeles Clippers coach Doc Rivers, who is black, said in an emotional speech Tuesday night. “We’re the ones getting shot. We’re the ones that we’re denied to live in certain communities. We’ve been hung. We’ve been shot. And all you do is keep hearing about fear. It’s amazing why we keep loving this country and this country does not love us back. And it’s just, it’s really so sad.”
Players from Boston and Toronto met Tuesday to discuss boycotting Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series, which had been scheduled for Thursday.
NBPA officers were part of those meetings, and Miami forward Andre Iguodala — one of those officers — said around 2:15 p.m. that he did not believe a boycott plan had been finalized.
Things apparently moved quickly: Less than two hours later, the Bucks wouldn’t take the floor.
“When you talk about boycotting a game, everyone’s antenna goes up,” Iguodala said. “It’s sad you have to make threats like that — I wouldn’t say threats — but you have to be willing to sacrifice corporate money for people to realize there’s a big problem out there.”
Professional sports has seen both strikes and lockouts in the past, almost always over salary disputes.
But this wouldn’t seem to classify as a strike, even though it was initiated by players, since their dispute is not with the NBA. Boycott, meanwhile, is defined as the act of refusing to engage in an action, usually to express disapproval with some condition.
The Western Journal has reviewed this Associated Press story and may have altered it prior to publication to ensure that it meets our editorial standards.
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