In the United States, athletes from the NBA and WNBA, the men’s and women’s basketball championships, Major League Baseball (MLB) and Major League Soccer (MLS), the top North American football division, have boycotted the games scheduled for Wednesday 26 August to protest the wounding of Jacob Blake, the African American man who on Sunday in Kenosha, Wisconsin, was shot in the back by the police with at least seven shots, and who now risks being paralyzed from the waist down.
The boycotts and postponements stemmed from the initiative of the players of the NBA team of the Milwaukee Bucks, based in Wisconsin, who refused to leave the locker room on Wednesday in Orlando for the playoff game against the Orlando Magic. Subsequently, two more NBA playoff games scheduled for Wednesday night, Houston Rockets-Oklahoma City Thunder and Los Angeles Lakers-Portland Trail Blazers have been postponed. Players from other leagues in progress have also asked for their matches to be suspended.
The NBA and the NBPA today announced that in light of the Milwaukee Bucks’ decision to not take the floor today for Game 5 against the Orlando Magic, today’s three games – MIL-ORL, HOU-OKC and LAL-POR have been postponed. Game 5 of each series will be rescheduled.
– NBA (@NBA) August 26, 2020
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) August 26, 2020
FUCK THIS MAN!!!! WE DEMAND CHANGE. SICK OF IT
– LeBron James (@KingJames) August 26, 2020
— Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) August 27, 2020
