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NBA Games Called Off Amid Player Protest Against Racial Injustice

Associated Press

   LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLORIDA - 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.

   Called off: Games between Milwaukee and Orlando, Houston and Oklahoma
   City, and the Los Angeles Lakers and Portland. 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
   among players on teams still in the bubble were scheduled Wednesday,
   presumably on how -- or whether -- to go forward, but even before that
   the Bucks apparently decided they would act.

   "Some things are bigger than basketball," Bucks senior vice president
   Alex Lasry tweeted. "The stand taken today by the players and [the
   organization] shows that we're fed up. Enough is enough. Change needs
   to happen. I'm incredibly proud of our guys and we stand 100% behind
   our players ready to assist and bring about real change."

   Thursday schedule

   Three other playoff games are scheduled Thursday. It was unclear
   whether they would be affected.

   Several NBA players, including the Lakers' LeBron James, tweeted out
   messages demanding change, and the Boston Celtics' official Twitter
   account did the same.

   "We weren't given advance notice about the decision but we are happy to
   stand in solidarity with Milwaukee, Jacob, and the entire NBA
   community," Orlando guard Michael Carter-Williams said. "Change is
   coming."

   Magic players and referees were on the basketball court for the game
   but Milwaukee never took the floor. Eventually everyone else left and
   the arena staff soon took the balls, towels and tags that go on player
   chairs back inside.

   National Basketball Players Association President Chris Paul of the
   Oklahoma City Thunder and guard Russell Westbrook of the Houston
   Rockets were seen emerging from a conversation, not long before it
   became known that their teams also decided to not play their scheduled
   game Wednesday.

   "Today we stand united with the NBA Office, the National Basketball
   Players Association, the Milwaukee Bucks and the rest of the league
   condemning bigotry, racial injustice and the unwarranted use of
   violence by police against people of color," the Magic and its
   ownership group, the DeVos family, said in a statement.

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