The Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers have indicated they are in favor of not playing the rest of the 2019-20 NBA season, according to Shams Charania from The Athletic. Their decision comes after the players held an all-hands-on-deck meeting late in the evening on Wednesday night. Any other team, however, indicated that they would prefer to continue playing.
In a dramatic scene, LeBron James allegedly led the Lakers and Clippers out of the room, while Miami Heat veteran Udonis Haslem argued that the season couldn’t go on without them. for Charania. The meeting ended “ugly” second David Aldridge of The Athletic.
To open the thrilling bout, the players spoke to Jacob Blake’s family, the Kenosha, the Wisconsin man who was shot seven times in the back by police on Sunday, according to Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. At the moment, there are no concrete plans to move forward, but at a minimum, it looks like Thursday’s playoffs will be postponed, according to Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated.
Earlier in the day, in response to Blake’s shooting and the death of two protesters due to vigilante violence on Tuesday night, the Milwaukee Bucks chose not to speak for Game 5 of their first-round playoff series with the Orlando Magic. A short time later, the rest of the day’s matches were postponed. While players across the league were supportive on social media, there was reportedly frustration at how they blinded the rest of the league, for Charania.
On Thursday morning, the NBA will hold a special meeting of the Board of Governors for discussion continuing the season will be continued. Additionally, players will hold another match at the same time, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
With excitement skyrocketing, the players were unable to make a collective decision on Wednesday. The hope is that Thursday’s meeting will be more productive now that everyone has had the opportunity to express their feelings and frustrations with how things are going, both in the bubble and in the country in general.
“There were a lot of emotions in the match rather than finding a solution, but I think tomorrow will be better”, a player with no name told veteran reporter Jeff Goodman. “I am confident that we will play, but tomorrow is a great match”.
