*According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the NBA season will continue, following reports of a possible league-wide boycott in protest of police brutality and social injustice.
Key members of the Lakers and the Clippers voted on Wednesday to end the season, while the rest of the teams wanted to continue playing.
While the playoffs will resume after all, there won’t be games on Thursday, according to Wojnarowski.
“We are hopeful to resume games either Friday or Saturday,” the league said in a statement.
The Milwaukee Bucks decided on Wednesday to not take the court for Game 5 in response to the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
READ MORE: 3 NBA Playoff Games Postponed TONIGHT After Bucks Boycott Their Game in Protest of Blake Shooting
ESPN Sources: Several key members of Lakers — and some peers around league — stayed up until early AM hours talking through issues in The Bubble. Among key players in league heading into 11 AM meeting, there’s optimism about a majority of players wanting to continue playoffs.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 27, 2020
Their decision sparked a swift response from the sports world — with NBA teams, WNBA teams, MLS teams, MLB teams and other athletes showing solidarity with the protest against the racial injustice, per ESPN.
The WNBA postponed three games on Thursday, while the NHL will not play any playoffs games Thursday.
On Wednesday, U.S. tennis officials also took a stance against “racial inequality and social injustice.”
“As a sport, tennis is collectively taking a stance against racial inequality and social injustice that once again has been thrust to the forefront in the United States,” tennis’ governing bodies said in a statement. “The USTA, ATP Tour, and WTA have decided to recognize this moment in time by pausing tournament play at the Western & Southern Open on Thursday, August 27. Play will resume on Friday, August 28.”
Draymond Green addressed the controversy online, writing “The notion that athletes should just stop working but no one else in the world should stop is baffling to me,” he wrote. “Why stop doing the very thing that offers you the biggest platform to speak for those that look like me/a lot of us?”
He added, “To do that is to actually give up the platform to speak for them, because without us using our platforms which is afforded by the influence of the sport, it actually stops us from echoing what those in the back are saying.”
Meanwhile, President Trump said Thursday that the NBA has become like “a political organization,” amid player protests over police brutality.
“They’ve become like a political organization, and that’s not a good thing,” Trump told reporters Thursday, noting that the league’s ratings are down from previous seasons. “I don’t think that’s a good thing for sports or for the country.”
Scroll up and hear/watch Trump speak about the issue via the YouTube clip above.
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