NBA players have decided to push through with the playoffs round after boycotting the matches as a protest to the shooting of Black man Jacob Blake in Winsconsin last Sunday.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the players have decided to continue the games following another round of players’ meeting on Thursday evening.
NBA executive vice president Mike Bass said in a statement that it is still being planned when the playoffs will resume but they are targeting this weekend for the restart.
“There is a video conference call meeting between a group of NBA players and team governors representing the 13 teams in Orlando, along with representatives from the National Basketball Players Association and the league office and NBA Labor Relations Committee Chairman Michael Jordan, to discuss next steps,” Bass said.
Milwaukee Bucks’ decision not to play their Game 5 against Orlando Magic on Wednesday evening led to the postponement of all three playoff games that day.
Matches scheduled for yesterday between Denver Nuggets and Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Clippers and Dallas Mavericks as well as the second round encounter between Toronto Raptors and Boston Celtics were postponed.
Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, was shot seven times by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, as he attempted to enter the driver’s side door of his vehicle with three of his children inside.
“It’s just sickening,” Bucks guard George Hill said when asked about the shooting of Blake. “It’s heartless. It’s a fucked-up situation. Like I said, you’re supposed to look at the police to protect and serve. Now, it’s looked at harass or shoot. To almost take a guy’s life. Thank God he’s still alive.
“I know the cops are probably upset he’s still alive, because I know they surely tried to kill him. But to almost take a man’s life, especially in front of one’s kids, that wasn’t resisting, in his back at point-blank range, is a heartless and gutless situation. We need some justice for that,” he added./PN
