Lakes, Clippers Reportedly Want to Cancel the Rest of the NBA Season After Police Shooting of Jacob Blake
Players with the L.A. Lakers and L.A. Clippers voted not to continue with the remainder of their NBA season in protest of the police shooting of Jacob Blake, ending a day in which other teams in the league also opted not to play games on Wednesday night (Aug. 26). Other athletes have since followed suit. It is being called the greatest gesture of social justice by professional athletes ever.
CBS Sports, attributing to a tweet from Shams Charnia of The Athletic, reported that the players held a meeting Wednesday evening on the issue. More specific details of what transpired during the meeting are not known, but it was reported that Lakers forward LeBron James walked out of the meeting. The other NBA teams however voted to keep playing.
Earlier Wednesday, the NBA had postponed all Game 5s of the NBA Playoffs after several teams chose to boycott playing in the wake of the Blake shooting on Sunday (Aug. 23) in Kenosha, Wis.
About an hour after NBA players opted against playing, WNBA players also decided they would not play as well, in a show of solidarity. They were joined by the Milwaukee Brewers who opted out of playing their game against the Cincinnati Reds, and tennis champion Naomi Osaka, who announced that she will not compete in the semifinal match at the Western & Southern Open scheduled on Thursday (Aug. 27).
The NBA is expected to hold a Board of Governors Meeting on Thursday morning. It is unclear what will be discussed or how Wednesday’s events will affect the remainder of the NBA season.
