NBA players took a stand Wednesday, and there’s a chance the magnitude of that stance could be increased exponentially.
All three playoff games set to played Wednesday were ultimately postponed after the Milwaukee Bucks first elected not to take the floor for Game 5 of their first-round NBA playoffs series with the Orlando Magic. The decision served as an act of protest, following the shooting of Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old African-American man whom police shot seven times Aug. 23 in Wisconsin during an arrest.
Following the game postponement, a league-wide meeting reportedly was held to discuss next steps. Two teams, the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers, reportedly voted to cancel the remainder of the season. Toronto Raptors coach Nick Nurse on Wednesday also revealed he’d heard some of his players talk about possibly returning home.
Should players want to leave the Orlando bubble in the name of protest, Jaylen Brown hopes they live up to their word. The Boston Celtics swingman reportedly made as much clear during Wednesday’s meeting, per The Undefeated’s Marc J. Spears.
“Jaylen Brown also asked them, ‘OK, if you guys leave here are you just going to leave and chill and hang out with your families and lose that loneliness? Or are you going to be in the trenches? Are you going to be in the streets?” Spears said Wednesday on ESPN’s “SportsCenter.”
Brown reportedly defended the Bucks’ decision not to play Wednesday against the Magic. The 23-year-old and the Celtics are scheduled to open their second-round series with the Raptors on Thursday, though Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals matchup reportedly is likely to be postponed.
