The NBA playoffs continue on Saturday. This was announced by representatives of the North American basketball league and the players’ union in a joint statement. This ends a strike that the Milwaukee Bucks launched on Wednesday: The Wisconsin team refused to appear on the court for the fifth playoff game against Orlando Magic. With the protest, the Bucks reacted to the case of the 29-year-old family man Jacob Blake: Two police officers had seriously injured the African American in Kenosha, 45 minutes by car from Milwaukee, with seven bullets in the back.
The decision to return to match operations was preceded by a video conference between players, coaches, club owners and league representatives on Thursday evening. The NBA promised a number of measures to meet the concerns of the players. A union for social justice should emerge from representatives of the individual groups. Its task should be, among other things, to campaign for easier access to democratic elections, to promote civic engagement and to advocate reforms of the police and criminal law.
In addition, the franchises undertook to convert their own stadiums into polling stations, if possible, in cooperation with local politicians. The aim is to ensure that communities that are particularly at risk due to the coronavirus pandemic can also cast their votes in the upcoming elections. In addition, advertising time is to be made available during the remaining playoffs to promote the possibilities of democratic participation.
NHL also continues to play
After the original protest action by the Milwaukee Bucks, the other NBA franchises represented in the playoffs had joined the protest, the Lakers and Clippers from Los Angeles even voted to end the season. As a result, strikes and strike announcements had also taken place in other sports. Meanwhile, the ice hockey league NHL announced that they want to catch up on failed games at the weekend. Tennis pro Naomi Osaka from Japan had originally considered a strike at the Masters in New York, but started on Friday and won her semi-finals 6: 2, 7: 6 (7: 5) against Belgian Elise Mertens.
