Four years to the day after Colin Kaepernick’s protest against police brutality and systemic racism went mainstream after his sitting on the bench during the national anthem prior to a San Francisco 49ers preseason game, another protest in the NBA started by the Milwaukee Bucks could see the playoffs come to a screeching halt.
According to Shams Charania of TheAthletic.com, in a league-wide player meeting Wednesday night the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers voted to boycott the remainder of the playoffs following the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The remainder of the teams - including the Bucks, who decided not to play their game against the Orlando Magic earlier in the day - voted to keep playing after Wednesday’s pause.
Per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com, the voting was more of a poll than an official vote. Discussions are expected to continue into Thursday with the NBA Board of Governors expected to meet in the morning. The three games on the schedule for Thursday are also still in doubt due to the situation.
“Everyone is still too emotional,” an anonymous official told Wojnarowski. “There needs to be more time to come together on this.”
The Board of Governors meeting is reportedly scheduled for 11 a.m. ET on Thursday. The state of the season will likely remain in peril until more is known coming out of that meeting.
