All NBA playoff games postponed Wednesday night in response to Blake shooting.

All NBA playoff games on Wednesday postponed as players protest racial injustice

The Milwaukee Bucks refused to play the Orlando Magic, protesting the shooting of Jacob Blake and sparking a boycott of all three NBA playoff games Wednesday.

After weeks devoted to protesting killings by police and racial injustice from inside the NBA bubble at ESPN Wide World of Sports, the games came to a halt.

Game 5 of the best-of-seven playoff series between the Magic and the Bucks was called off after Milwaukee players stunned NBA officials by declining to leave their locker room.

After the Thunder, Rockets, Lakers and Trail Blazers also decided to boycott their games, the NBA formally postponed the three Game 5 matchups that were set to be played Wednesday at ESPN Wide World of Sports.

The games will be rescheduled, the league said in a statement.

It’s unclear when exactly play will resume, with all players invited to a meeting Wednesday night to weigh their next steps.

NBA players were soon joined by the Milwaukee Brewers, who boycotted their game against the Cincinnati Reds. The Mariners and the Padres also called off their game, and other MLB teams reportedly mulled following the Brewers’ lead.

WNBA players opted to not play their games scheduled for Wednesday.

In a statement provided to ESPN, the NBA Coaches Association said it stands behind the players’ decision to sit out the games.

“The NBA coaches support our players 100 percent. The restart happened largely because of the platform it provided. The baseless shootings of Jacob Blake and other black men and women by law enforcement underscores the need for action. Not after the playoffs, not in the future, but now,” the statement read.

Athletes around the country continue to weigh responses to the shooting of Blake, who was captured on video getting shot in the back by Kenosha, Wisconsin, police while trying to get into his vehicle. His three young sons were in the vehicle and watched the shooting. Blake survived but has suffered extensive injuries.

While Wisconsin authorities have asked the public to refrain from judging the officer’s actions until an investigation is completed, the video sparked protests and anger as Black men continue to be harmed while being detained by police.

The entire sports world didn’t quite come to a halt, although none was left untouched by social unrest.

Some Major League Soccer games were called off, but Orlando City played Nashville SC in downtown Orlando. However, players

and coaches continued to show support for Black Lives Matter.

The Tampa Bay Lightning played in the NHL bubble Wednesday night, but there was a moment of silence before the game began.

The Orlando Magic and the DeVos family, who own the team, released a statement supporting the decision to postpone NBA games.

“Today we stand united with the NBA Office, the National Basketball Players Association, the Milwaukee Bucks and the rest of the league condemning bigotry, racial injustice and the unwarranted use of violence by police against people of color,” the Magic statement read.

The Bucks players formalized their decision before the game to boycott Game 5 and there were some reports the Magic initially wanted to play.

Orlando has been active fighting social injustice during the past few months as racial injustice vaulted into the national spotlight, listening to an array of guest speakers and pushing to get more people to vote.

“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,” Magic guard Michael Carter-Williams said in a statement released by the Magic.

Bucks players have been actively fighting for social justice reform and spoke with Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul from the locker room, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

In the hour before the scheduled 4 p.m. tipoff, Orlando expected to play in what might have been its final game of the season.

The Magic came out for pregame warmups at AdventHealth Arena, but the Bucks never joined them. It eventually became apparent the Bucks would be skipping the game. Charania reported that the Bucks and NBA personnel were standing outside of the team’s locker room as the team was giving serious consideration to not playing. Eventually, the Magic left the floor and the arena was practically devoid of sound.

The final pregame horn sounded and neither team was on the court. The officiating crew stood in a group talking near the scorer’s area for a few minutes before leaving.

The arena remained ominously quiet, with the scoreboard clock sitting at 0.0.

Eventually, floor workers came and took the game balls off the court, signaling that the Magic and the Bucks would not be playing as scheduled.

Momentum for boycotts had been building the days after Blake had been shot. The Toronto Raptors and Boston Celtics were discussing sitting out the first game of their Eastern Conference semifinal series that was set to begin Thursday.

Following his team’s 154-111 victory Tuesday night over the Dallas Mavericks, Clippers coach Doc Rivers delivered a poignant postgamenews conference that saw him fight back tears at times. Rivers, whose father was a Chicago police officer, has become a prominent voice for NBA coaches on racism, police voting reforms.

“It’s amazing why we keep loving this country, and this country does not love us back,” Rivers said. “It’s just really so sad. Like, I should just be a coach. I’m so often reminded of my color. It’s just really sad. We got to do better. We have to demand better.”

Clifford, who was unaware that Rivers’ father was a law enforcement officer, appreciated and respected what his colleague had to say.

“I thought it was powerful. You could tell it was from the heart,” Clifford said. “It’s right on. You can tell.

“Again, this whole thing is about trying to get people to understand that racism is a problem, bigotry is a problem, police accountability is a problem, and we’ve got to make changes. I thought what he said was great and I would hope that everyone would agree with that.”

Clifford was asked before tipoff what discussions the team had about Blake.

“The first thing that hit me was are we comfortable living in a country where this happens over and over and we don’t do anything about it,” Clifford said during his pregame media session. “What we’ve been talking about as a group for a long time now, well before we came into the bubble, is being involved and impactful in making positive and sustainable change.”

Clifford reiterated that voting is the most direct way to create political and social change and the Magic will continue their efforts on that front once their playoff appearance is done.

The Magic have been working with Desmond Meade of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition to help with the organization’s voting awareness campaign. The team had its slogan — “Get off the bench and get in the game. Vote!” — printed on T-shirts that players wore when they entered the NBA bubble last month.

The T-shirts are now being sold to the public, with proceeds benefiting Meade’s organization.

Meade led the effort in 2018 to pass Amendment 4 — a grassroots initiative that restored the voting rights to more than 1.4 million Floridians with past felony convictions.

Clifford has become involved with Meade’s group, he has met with Orange County Sheriff John Mina, he’s attended a task-force meeting on police reform and he’s met with an organization in the Parramore area known as “Let Your Voice Be Heard.”

In addition, Magic players chose words and slogans like “Freedom,” “Liberation,” “Equality” and “Respect Us” that were displayed on the back of jerseys to promote social justice messages. Prior to the restart, the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association agreed on the messages players could use.

Magic forward Aaron Gordon chose “Freedom.”

“I still believe that there is a group of people and a population of people that are being oppressed in America, and I believe everybody deserves the right to be free to make decisions and experience things in this life and understand that there’s more to it than just being oppressed,” Gordon said when asked for the reasoning behind his choice.

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