When NBA players decided to play off the rest of the 2019-20 season in Orlando, they made a point to inform the league that the focus should continue to be on social justice, police brutality, and the Black Lives Matter movement. Since arriving at Disney World, players have used their media availability to do justice to Breonna Taylor, who was shot dead in Louisville after police officers issued an arrest warrant.
The NBA has pledged to donate money to organizations that directly serve black communities. Television commercials were played during games where equality was demanded. Players like Patty Mills and Jrue Holiday donated all of their salaries to social justice and to serve the black business community. LeBron James formed an electoral group with other athletes to combat the repression of voters in the black community.
The focus remains on social justice. The recent police shots of an unarmed black man named Jacob Blake, who was shot seven times in the back on Sunday in Kenosha, Wisconsin, hit NBA bubble players and coaches badly. So much so that Toronto Raptors and Boston Celtics players are debating about possibly boycotting the first game of the Eastern Conference semifinals on Thursday. The players met at their hotel on Tuesday night to weigh their options and will do so again on Wednesday night. after Adrian Wojnarowski and Marc J. Spears.
Fred VanVleet, the guardian of the Raptors, spoke to the media on Tuesday discussing what he and his teammates have been thinking about.
“We knew that nothing was going to stop you from coming here or not from coming here, but I think that to play or not to play puts pressure on someone in the end.
This is what happened in Kenosha, Wisconsin, for example, if I’m right? Would it be nice if in a perfect world we all say we don’t play and the owner of the Milwaukee Bucks – that will drain. When he steps on the plate and puts pressure on the prosecutor, the prosecutor, the governors and the politicians to make real change and get justice there.
I know it’s not that easy. But at the end of the day, if we want to sit here and talk about change, at some point we have to risk our nuts and actually set something up to lose, rather than just money or visibility. I’m just over the media aspect. It’s sensational, we talk about it every day, that’s all we see, but it just feels like a big pacifier to me. “
While VanVleet refused to elaborate on how the Raptors will react to the shooting of Blake, who according to his lawyer is paralyzed from the neck down, the Star Guard said many options were being discussed.
“I’ll keep that between our team,” said VanVleet. “We deal with it in real time and I think it affects everyone differently. It’s pretty fresh in my head and I’m sitting in front of a camera so I only speak while I walk. But yeah, there are a lot of different things that we discussed. “
Raptor’s coach Nick Nurse went on ESPN radio and said that The team spoke about boycotting Game 1but not made any decisions yet.
“We listen to them. I think our President Masai Ujiri and I have opened the floor to these people for much of the time, holding several meetings just as an open forum to bring their thoughts, feelings and ideas to the table,” said the nurse . “Fred VanVleet, Norman Powell and Kyle Lowry mentioned in our meeting yesterday that they wanted to explore and talk about this. We will meet here shortly so we can have more information shortly, but we will.” listen to them. “
Kyle Lowry, all-star point guard at Raptors, texted Jay Williams of ESPN that the team “explore everything and everyone“In response to the team’s stance on boycotting the game. The nurse reached out to the media on Wednesday to reiterate that everything is on the table and even some players have expressed their desire to leave the bubble and go home to go:
“I don’t think I can probably bet a percentage on it or anything” Nurse said. “I think these are ongoing discussions again. I think it’s on the table. You know, there are some other ideas on the table. I don’t know.”
Although the Celtics held team briefings to discuss Jacob Blake’s shooting, coach Brad Stevens said no one had expressed that they didn’t want to play. Celtics striker Marcus Smart said something needs to be done other than kneeling and wearing t-shirts for the national anthem.
“We tried to be peaceful, kneeling, we tried to protest,” said Smart. “And for us we were trying to get out of here and get together and play this game and get our voice across. But it doesn’t work so obviously something needs to be done. Right now our focus shouldn’t really be on that I see, it’s them Playoffs and everything but we still have a bigger problem and the things that we tried didn’t work so we definitely have to take a different approach and we definitely have to try new things to make this thing like this works as we know it, and our voices are heard even more. “
Other coaches and players in the league have expressed their disgust and general grief over Blake’s shooting, and while the NBA has agreed to focus the season’s return on social justice issues, these players can only do so much do while they are in the league a bubble away from the real world. As the NBA season goes on, for now, players will continue to find new ways to make real, tangible change. Whether that means boycotting games to send a message remains to be seen, but it’s something the league needs to be prepared for when teams and players start making that decision.
