NBA Walkout Causes Standstill in Sports World
Thursday, August 26 was supposed to be Game 5 for the NBA playoffs, but after nights of protests in response to constant police brutality, many teams decided that enough was enough and they did not play.
The halt was in response to the recent protests following the shooting of Jacob Blake, an unarmed Black man who is currently fighting for his life after being shot seven times in the back. Tensions boiled over after a 17-year-old domestic terrorist, Kyle Rittenhouse, crossed state lines to shoot and kill two protestors and was able to pass police without being apprehended.
Some folks are upset because the #NBABoycott will cause them to miss some playoff games.
Meanwhile, other folks are upset because they are missing their children, due to them being killed by cops.
You’ll see the make-up games.
They won’t see their kids again.
— BrooklynDad_Defiant! (@mmpadellan) August 27, 2020
The outrage caused a ripple effect throughout the sports world. What started as the NBA stepping away from their games turned into the WNBA, MLB, MLS, and tennis star Naomi Osaka deciding to stop their plays to bring awareness to the horrible injustices faced by people of color.
NBA players like Lebron James and Kyrie Irving have been extremely vocal about the racial disparities faced in this country. Even reporter and former player Kenny Smith appeared emotional in response to the brave decisions made by the players to not play on Wednesday night.
Respect to Kenny Smith for walking off the set, & respect to all the NBA players (Bucks, Lakers, etc) having a #NBABoycott in response to the latest #AntiBlackRacism attack on #JacobBlake & the deputized suspected white supremacists like #KyleRittenhouse who committed murder pic.twitter.com/vnKlCuAFdP
— Tariq Nasheed 🇺🇸 (@tariqnasheed) August 26, 2020
The stresses caused by seeing Black death constantly on TV and social media paired with disheartening rhetoric spewed during the Republican National Convention and the isolation of the NBA bubble caused the Milwaukee Bucks to be the first team to refuse to play their game against the Orlando Magic. Clippers coach Doc Rivers made an impactful statement about “fear” and how we must demand the change needed to rectify the effects of a corrupt policing system in this country.
Heartbreaking. 💔💔💔
America doesn’t deserve the beauty and grace of professional basketball right now.
Good on ya @NBA#NBABoycott
pic.twitter.com/kFdcb5jcyw— 🎈PennywiseDon’tPlayThat🎈 (@62cinmar) August 26, 2020
Later in the evening, the Lakers and the Clippers voted to end the NBA season completely, though there are currently negotiations being held to resume the playoffs. Teams met throughout the night trying to come up with action plans, looking to find ways to encourage local, state, and national government officials to make a change.
We hope that the standstill will bring much-needed attention and action to the state of unrest that we are currently in and that change will soon come.
