NBA players choose to boycott Wednesday playoff games in the name of social justice
Orlando – All three games set for Wednesday in the NBA playoffs will not be played. Players from all six teams are deciding to boycott the games after the police shooting of Jacob Blake.
The Milwaukee Bucks, one of the favorites to win the Finals this year, decided not to leave their locker room minutes before their game against the Orlando Magic.
Video of the shooting circled on Twitter Sunday night, and many NBA players were upset and took to Twitter to express their views. Utah Jazz player Donovan Mitchell was one of many NBA players speaking against police brutality. LeBron James, Jamal Murray, and Kyle Kuzma also chimed in.
What sent many more players into considering a boycott was an event on Tuesday night, when two people were shot and killed while protesting Blake’s death in Kenosha, Wisc.
The suspect is 17 years old and from Antioch, Ill. He was charged by Kenosha police with first-degree intentional homicide, according to the Antioch Police.
https://twitter.com/spidadmitchell/status/1298353888588955650
Shortly after the Bucks chose to boycott, news about the remaining two games Wednesday night came down. The Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets will not play, and neither with the Los Angeles Lakers against the Portland Trailblazers.
The Bucks have a 3-1 lead in the series and had a chance to advance tonight. The Rockets-Thunder series is tied at two games a piece, and the Lakers had a chance to win their series against the Portland Trailblazers.
For now, the games are postponed as the country awaits a response from NBA Commissioner Adam Silver.
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