USA TODAY International Edition
NBA postpones 3 games after boycott
Three NBA playoff games were scheduled Wednesday, but three playoff games were not played in a historic day not only for the league, but in sports history – four years to the day that former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the national anthem.
The Bucks, who were set to play the Magic in Game 5 of their first- round series at 4: 10 p. m. ET, decided not to play in protest of the Jacob Blake shooting.
The Thunder and Rockets also planned not to play Game 5 of their series, and the Lakers and Trail Blazers did not want to play, either.
“The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association announced that in light of the Milwaukee Bucks’ decision to not take the floor today for Game 5 against the Orlando Magic, today’s three games – Bucks vs. Magic, Houston Rockets vs. Oklahoma City Thunder and Los Angeles Lakers vs. Portland Trail Blazers – have been postponed. Game 5 of each series will be rescheduled,” the NBA said in a news release.
Blake, a Black man, was shot multiple times in the back on Sunday by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, which is 40 miles south of Milwaukee on Lake Michigan.
“We fully support our players and the decision they made,” Bucks owners Marc Lasry, Wes Edens and Jamie Dinan said in a statement. “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. Our players have done that and we will continue to stand alongside them and demand accountability and change.”
NBA players were shaken by the incident, which was captured on video. Anger, sadness and frustration were evident in news conferences.
Three games are scheduled for Thursday, and the league and players will figure out how to proceed in a restart that is in jeopardy of not concluding. The two parties were scheduled to meet at 8 p. m. ET Wednesday inside the bubble near Orlando, Florida.
“People are upset and angry and we’re just trying to come together and
figure out a way how we can do something,” Boston’s Jayson Tatum said Wednesday. “Obviously, people are going to say, ‘ Sitting out, what is that going to do?’ Honestly, if we sit out a game or the rest of the playoffs, we understand how big of ( an) impact that would have. Everybody’s going to have to talk about it, continue to raise awareness.
“We don’t want to just keep playing and forget what’s going on in the outside world because it’s affecting us. It’s affecting everybody, and we’re more than just basketball players. We’re people. We have these raw emotions.”
The Bucks’ players released a statement: “We’ve seen the horrendous video of Jacob Blake being shot in the back seven times by a police officer in Kenosha, and the additional shooting of protestors. Despite the overwhelming plea for change, there has been no action, so our focus today cannot be on basketball. When we take the court and represent Milwaukee and Wisconsin, we are expected to play at a high level, give maximum effort and hold each other accountable. We hold ourselves to that standard, and in this moment, we are demanding the same from our lawmakers and law enforcement.”