The NBA starred this Wednesday in one of those moments that will go down in history. The Milwaukee Bucks, the best team in the league, became the first to they boycott the competition in protest of racism and police brutality against blacks.
The Wisconsin players did not show up for Game 5 of their playoff series against the Orlando Magic. They made this decision in protest of the case of Jacob Blake, the 29-year-old African American who survives hospitalized after the impact of seven bullets fired by a couple of agents, from behind and at point-blank range, in the city of Kenosha, not far from Milwaukee.
All play-off matches that were to be played were suspended
The moment is explosive. His decision caused an earthquake. The other two games that had been scheduled for this Wednesday (Los Angeles Lakers-Portland Trailblazers and Oklahoma City Thunder-Houston Rockets) were also canceled due to the refusal of the players, “We are afraid in the United States for being black,” said LeBron James after what happened in Kenosha.
It all started when the Orlando players went out to the park to warm up. But they were alone. Their rivals, who are ahead by three wins to one, stayed in the locker room. After a short while, seeing that there was not going to be a meeting, the Magics also left the track.
Some spoke of revolution. Members of the Boston Celtics and Toronto Raptors were negotiating to take a similar measure ahead of their second-round matchup scheduled for Thursday. According to ESPN, league officials fear this is like falling dominoes.
After the March stoppage due to the coronavirus, most of the players decided to participate in the bubble experiment at the Disney theme park in Orlando with the intention of using this platform in order to raise awareness on the issue of racism.
Many on their t-shirts do not wear their names but instead carry words like “equality” or “justice” and, above all, “Black Lives Matter”, the lives of blacks matter, the movement that capitalizes on the protest in the country. The image of bending the knee at the time of the national anthem has become common, much to the ire of President Trump, who regularly lashes out at them.
George Hill, point guard for the Bucks, has been one of those who have promoted the boycott. This past Tuesday he expressed his displeasure at having gone to Florida. “We shouldn’t have come to this damn place, to be honest. I think that by coming here we put the focus on another point and not on the real problems ”, he declared.
“We are fully committed and firm on the issue of excessive use of force by the police and the escalation of violence against the black community,” the Milwaukee team said in a statement. In this text, the organization said that it “prayed” for the recovery of Jacob Blake.
Despite this radical measure, no one even considered imposing a penalty on the Milwaukee. It could have been the prick of the bubble.
