All three NBA playoff games scheduled for Wednesday have been postponed, with players around the league choosing to boycott in their strongest statement yet against racial injustice.
Games between Milwaukee and Orlando, Houston and Oklahoma City and the Los Angeles Lakers and Portland were all called off. The NBA said all three games would be rescheduled, yet did not say when.
The dramatic series of moves began when the Bucks – the NBA’s team from Wisconsin, a state rocked in recent days by the shooting by police officers of Jacob Blake, a Black man – didn’t take the floor for their playoff game against the Magic.
The teams were set to begin Game 5 of their series shortly after 4 p.m., with the Bucks needing a win to advance to the second round.
Players had been discussing boycotting games in the bubble after the shooting of Blake by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin. More discussions were scheduled Wednesday, but even before that the Bucks apparently decided they would act.
The Celtics and Toronto Raptors met Tuesday to discuss boycotting Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series, which had been scheduled for Thursday.
Story by Brian Mahoney, The Associated Press
CHEK News
