NBA postpones all playoff games in support of Jacob Blake boycott. WNBA AND MLB follow suit.
The NBA has officially announced Wednesday that they will postpone game five of the playoffs in the wake of the Jacob Blake shooting and Milwaukee Bucks decision to boycott their game.
Jacob Blake, a Black male resident of Kenosha, Wisconsin, was shot in the back by a police officer on Sunday. The officer held Blake by the back of his shirt and fired several rounds of ammunition into his back at arms length. His shooting is the latest incident, causing outrage across the nation over social injustice.
The WNBA has chosen to stand in solidarity with the National Basketball League by not playing Wednesday. Bernice King, the daughter of the late Martin Luther King Jr., was one of many celebrities to comment on the movement. “What NBA players did today matters greatly. Don’t think for a minute that it doesn’t.” King said on her twitter account.
The NBA released a statement saying,” The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association today that in light of the Milwaukee Bucks’ decision to not take the floor today for Game 5 against the Orlando Magic, today’s three games–Bucks vs. Magic, Houston Rockets vs. Oklahoma City Thunder and Los Angeles Lakers vs. Portland Trail Blazers–have been postponed.”
The NBA has a clause in their bargaining agreement that does not allow players to strike. The Bucks violated the contract by deciding not to take the floor in the form of protest against racial injustice. The team is calling for officers to be held accountable for the shooting of Blake.
“The past four months have shed a light on the ongoing racial injustices facing our African American Communities. Citizens around the country have used their voices and platforms to speak out against these wrongdoings,” The Bucks said in a statement.
Despite violating the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement, The Bucks’ owners have expressed their support of the players’ decisions. “We fully support our players and the decisions they made,” Wes Edens, Jamie Dinan and Marc Lasry said in a collective statement, “The only way to bring about change is to shine a light on the racial injustices that are happening in front of us. Our players have done that and we will continue to stand alongside them and demand accountability and change.”
Major League Baseball has also postponed games in support of the NBA including the Brewers and Mariners walkout to protest the Jacob Blake shooting causing the games against the Cincinnati Reds and San Diego Padres to be postponed. The Milwaukee Brewers said, “The players from the Brewers and Reds have decided to not play tonight’s baseball game. With our community and our nation in such pain, we want to draw as much attention to the issues that really matter, especially racial injustice to systemic oppression.
Several hours later the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants followed suit in support of protests against racial injustice. San Francisco manager Gabe Kapler said in a statement, “I don’t think it should require athletes needing to boycott playoff games to remind us that Black Lives Matter, and that police brutality is unacceptable, and that systemic racism to be eliminated.”
Former Dodgers player Matt Kemp now of the Rockies released a heartfelt statement to support protesters and athletes standing together to support Black Lives Matter and citizens protesting police brutality.
“Tonight I stand with my fellow professional athletes in protest of the injustices my people continue to suffer. I could not play this game I love so much tonight knowing the hurt and anguish my people continue to feel. In a world where we are the ones who need to remain calm while a trained professional points a gun in out face; a world where the people in uniforms who took an oath to protect us are the same ones killing us; a world where we become hashtags before we even reach our potential; we must stand together, speak out, protest, and be the change we demand, require, and need so bad.” Kemp continues. “To the families who have experienced these tragedies first hand my heart breaks for you, my prayers are with you and I use my platform to speak on your behalf. I will be protesting tonight’s game in honor of all of my fallen brothers and sisters at the hand of police brutality.”
Breonna Taylor, Andres Guardado, George Floyd and Antonio Valenzuela are part of the growing list of people of color who’ve fallen victim to police brutality.
