Two days after Fred VanVleet, the guardian of the Raptors, wondered aloud whether a historic NBA boycott might be the only way to take action, Toronto’s playoff game against the Boston Celtics was postponed Thursday night.
But the NBA, which is refusing to play game 5 of their opening round against Orlando after the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday, is hoping to resume their postseason on Friday or Saturday.
“NBA playoff games for [Thursday] is not played as planned. We hope to resume games either Friday or Saturday, “said Mike Bass, executive vice president of the NBA, in a statement released on Thursday.
The NBA says it will hold a video conference later Thursday with a group of players, governors of the 13 teams remaining in the playoffs, as well as representatives from the National Basketball Players Association and the league office and NBA Labor Relations Committee chairman Michael Jordan to discuss The next steps.
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“We obviously agree that whether we play or not, we still have to do our best to make change and we still have to do our part,” said Orlando security guard Michael Carter-Williams, in a video interview with a Magic Public Relations office officially.
“It’s obviously not easy when you consider everything that’s going on. But I think if we can go out there and do our best and have a list of things we want to achieve, everything will be done.”
The bucks sparked a turning point in the sport when they refused to play. This resulted in the postponement of all Wednesday and Thursday games, as well as the postponement or cancellation of games in Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer, WNBA and even tennis.
The Raptors were among the first to speak of boycott. The defending NBA champions had just finished a 4-0 opening round in Brooklyn but was in no mood to celebrate.
“What are we ready to give up?” VanVleet asked the media in an emotional zoom availability on Tuesday. “We actually give one [expletive] about what’s going on? Or is it just cool to wear ‘BLM’ in the background or wear a t-shirt? What does that really mean? Is it really doing something? “
Although former President Barack Obama was closely associated with some NBA players and officials, the league’s relationship with the White House waned when Donald Trump was elected. Trump criticized the league again on Thursday.
“They’ve become like a political organization and that’s not a good thing,” Trump told reporters, noting that the league’s ratings have declined from previous seasons. “I don’t think that’s good for the sport or the country.”
Earlier Thursday, Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff, Marc Short, said in a CNN interview that the NBA protests were “absurd and silly” compared to their response to ongoing human rights abuses in China.
