The NBA is reportedly considering cancelling the remainder of the season in protest of the police-involved shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin on Sunday.
NBA players and coaches reportedly met on Wednesday to try and figure out what the next steps will be in terms of the playoffs and season as a whole, but they failed to reach a consensus, according to Deadline. A top writer who covers the NBA said that players for the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers wanted to end the season right now, though other players wanted to play on.
LeBron James reportedly left the meeting after the Lakers were outvoted, with the rest of his team and the Clippers following him.
Sources: The Lakers and Clippers have voted to boycott the NBA season. Most other teams voted to continue. LeBron James has exited the meeting.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 27, 2020
Sources: Miami's Udonis Haslem spoke and essentially told everyone in room that — without Lakers and Clippers, how will season continue?
LeBron James walked out. Rest of Lakers and Clippers exited behind him.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 27, 2020
This came after the NBA playoff games that were scheduled for Wednesday were postponed due to the Milwaukee Bucks, which is the team nearest Kenosha, deciding not to play their game.
“We’re tired of the killings and the injustice,” Bucks guard George Hill told The Undefeated after the designated start time of the game. The NBA has yet to announce how these games will be made up.
The meeting between players and coaches took three hours, yet they could not reach a conclusion. Some reports indicate that the NBA teams that still have a shot at the title want to continue, while the teams who are on the verge of elimination feel that they might as well just end the season now.
The NBA boycott was joined by teams from other sports including Major League Baseball (including the Milwaukee Brewers), Major League Soccer, and the WNBA.
Sports are meant to be a form of escapism from the evils of the world, which means that politics and social justice pushes have no place in professional basketball. Sadly, sports have been politicized like never before, and there’s no sign of that ending anytime soon.
Someone should probably remind these NBA players that the average American has no interest in being lectured about politics and life by overpaid millionaire 20-somethings who are supposed to be playing basketball. If they can’t throw politics to the sidelines, perhaps it’s better that they end their season early after all.
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