The Milwaukee Bucks refused to play the Orlando Magic, protesting the shooting of Jacob Blake and sparking a boycott of all NBA playoff games Wednesday.
After weeks devoted to protesting police violence and racial injustice 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 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 respective 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.
(Featured image is “Basketball court, Detroit MI” by Timothy Neesam (GumshoePhotos) and is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
EDIT: The Headline has since been edited. It now reads “Bucks boycott Magic game; all NBA playoff games on Wednesday postponed”
The article has also been edited since this was originally posted.
The third and fourth paragraphs now read:
After a tense day that ended with players and coaches meeting Wednesday night in a hotel ballroom, it’s unclear when exactly the playoffs will resume, if at all.
The nearly three-hour meeting was characterized as “emotional” as players and coaches tried to determine what steps to take next. Every team voiced support to continue with the playoffs, with the exception of the Lakers and the Clippers. Their preference, at this point, is to stop playing, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Another players’ meeting has been set for 11 a.m. Thursday to further discuss moving forward, although the three scheduled playoff games set for Thursday are unlikely to be played, Wojnarowski reported.
The WNBA as well:
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Boycott is the wrong word. These are strikes. Specifically they are wildcat strikes.Report
Those words were copy/pasted.Report
Is there a specific term to refer to strikes in protest of general social issues, as opposed to grievances with the strikers’ employers (regular strike) or with other employers (solidarity action)?Report
Bernie has released a statement in solidarity:
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Supported by government-approved monopolies and tax dollars, ideologically driven, in bed with the college system and media, too big to fail, dependent on the good will of people they’re not listening to: Big Sport.Report
The headline (which I understand was copied-and-pasted) is inaccurate. Yesterday’s games were postponed. No decision has been made as to the resumption of the playoffs, though reports indicate the players are agreeing to return to the court. Today’s games are also reportedly postponed with no date set for any potential resumption.
There was talk among the players of walking away from the remainder of the playoffs, which would likely lead to “all games being cancelled.” But we aren’t there yet and reports indicate will not get to that point.
I’m not yet ready to weigh in on what anyone should or should not be doing, but accuracy in reporting matters.Report
Ehhh, the Bucks boycotted, then the NBA reacted by cancelling.
One minor but I think relevant issue is that since the Magic were already on the court for pre-game shoot-around and therefore ready to play, the Buck’s decision to stay in the locker room would technically have been a forfeit. The NBA got in front of that.Report
Oh yea, I’m not arguing with that. And it was smart of them to avoid the forfeit. The NBA in general under Silver have been really smart about their handling of, well, everything. Goodell should be paying attention.
Just the headline “All playoff games now cancelled” gives the impression the remainder of the playoffs is cancelled, which is not the case. Though it was a possible (and I suppose remains a possible) outcome so best to avoid confusion. When I first read this, I assumed it was about more than yesterday/today’s games.Report
Ahh, OK. Yeah, I agree. The headline is just false, on any reading, but *will* generate lots of clicks.Report
The headline now reads: “Bucks boycott Magic game; all NBA playoff games on Wednesday postponed” So they finally got it right it seems.
You brought up an interesting point regarding the Magic. Some of their players were reportedly upset they weren’t consulted or at least informed about the Bucks’ decision. Others — notably the Celtics’ Jaylen Brown, per the reports I read — said that that wasn’t necessary. I know he has been very active in the movement and has emerged as a leading voice.
Video did show Russell Westbrook and Chris Paul conferring with one another before their teams’ decided not to play. I don’t think the Lakers/Blazers were at an arena yet so whatever happened there likely wasn’t caught on any video.
I don’t know if the Bucks’ decision to go rogue was tactical or merely happenstance. As the team from Wisconsin, there was a certain power in them being the tip of the spear. There also seems to be additional power levied by actions when they seem spontaneous, though I’m not sure I agree with that (even if I fall victim to thinking in such ways myself).
So it is possible that the Bucks wanted to go it alone — and perhaps even force the NBA to declare a forfeit –due to their particular connections to the area impacted by the latest shooting and the subsequent unrest. Or they may have made a last minute decision that wasn’t relayed to the Magic in time. Or something in between.Report
Post has been edited.Report
Thanks. To be clear, my critique was only of the original headline writer and none of what was offered here.
Within the update, this nugget stood out: “Every team voiced support to continue with the playoffs, with the exception of the Lakers and the Clippers.”
I had heard that the Lakers and Clippers were in support of ending the playoffs. I hadn’t heard that they were the ONLY teams. That is interesting to me for a number of reasons. I’m very curious to see what ultimately comes of this, both for the players and the league but also what, if any, impact hteir actions have.Report
Baseball:
It seems like this came as a surprise to the announcer? Maybe I’m reading his voice wrong.Report
Hockey:
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NBA might be back on?
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According to this poll, 57 percent of Americans supported the strike: https://twitter.com/YouGovAmerica/status/1299343090612920322?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1299343090612920322%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fdisqus.com%2Fembed%2Fcomments%2F%3Fbase%3Ddefaultf%3Dlawyersgunsmoneyblog-comt_i%3D11228320https3A2F2Fwww.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com2F3Fp3D112283t_u%3Dhttps3A2F2Fwww.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com2F20202F082Frepublicans-argue-trump-must-be-elected-to-save-country-from-the-chaos-that-has-been-unleashed-under-president-joe-bident_e%3DRepublicans20argue20Trump20must20be20elected20to20save20country20from20the20chaos20that20has20been20unleashed20under20President20Joe20Bident_d%3DRepublicans20argue20Trump20must20be20elected20to20save20country20from20the20chaos20that20has20been20unleashed20under20President20Joe20Bident_t%3DRepublicans20argue20Trump20must20be20elected20to20save20country20from20the20chaos20that20has20been20unleashed20under20President20Joe20Bidens_o%3Ddefaultversion%3D74650ae616abed8b7420508576c52640Report
A deal has been struck:
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No doubt that all this drama will only encourage viewers to watch when the games come back and spur more ticket sales. Professional sports will boom again.
/sarcasm offReport