Et was suspiciously quiet for one day, then Donald Trump could no longer contain himself. The American president finally said that he “didn’t know much” about the athlete’s uprising, but he knew that the TV ratings for the professional basketball league NBA were “bad” because people were “tired of them”. In addition, the NBA has become something “like a political organization, and that’s not a good thing”. In truth, it must have bothered Trump that the athletes’ protest distracted from the Republican convention.
Trump’s seconds also spoke up. Marc Short, chief of staff of American Vice President Mike Pence, described the strikes and protests of the NBA on CNN as “absurd and stupid”. Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and also an official advisor to the White House, blasphemed at CNBC: The NBA players could consider themselves lucky that “if they take an evening off” would be without financial consequences for them. For the conversation that Kushner wants to have to discuss the situation with NBA superstar LeBron James, this should not be a good basis.
In fact, the wave of strikes sparked Wednesday by the Milwaukee Bucks in response to a white policeman shooting the black Jacob Blake is already ebbing. After the NHL ice hockey league finally canceled the play-off matches on Thursday and Friday under pressure from its players, it should continue on Saturday at the latest – also in the NBA. His players were happy to continue playing, “they want,” assured Doc Rivers, coach of the Los Angeles Clippers, who initially voted against a continuation of the season. On Friday afternoon it was then clear. Basketball continues on Saturday.
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The key figure in the players’ discussions about how to proceed was apparently the greatest basketball player in history: Michael Jordan. As several media reported unanimously, “His Airness”, majority owner of the Charlotte Hornets and thus also the only black person in this position in an NBA franchise, contacted Chris Paul: The star of Dennis Schröder’s club Oklahoma City Thunder is the president of the NBA -Players association. Jordan offered Paul to raise the players’ concerns at a club owners meeting.
Wants to mediate in the protests: Basketball legend Michael Jordan
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Bild: Picture-Alliance
At the virtual meeting of the club bosses, Jordan urged his colleagues to listen to the players before making decisions, according to meeting participants. “Michael is the perfect person for this role,” an NBA official told ESPN, “he was a high profile player who won championships. He also owns a team in a small market. He has great credibility with the players and the owners. ”At their meeting, the club bosses agreed to continue supporting the players.
The club owners of the NBA have so far been largely open to the concerns of the players. They allowed them to wear messages on their shirts in the Florida bubble. They want to invest $ 300 million in projects over the next ten years that will improve the economic situation of black people. They also take a clear position for their players, at least in public, like the majority owners of the Bucks on Wednesday. In the meeting on Thursday they announced that they would develop further plans. Before the NBA, the women’s league WNBA wanted to resume play after two days of strike on Friday. Also in the baseball league MLB, in which seven of 15 scheduled games were canceled on Thursday, things should then go back to plan.
The protest in the NHL is a notable sign, as ice hockey is still considered a white sport, with African-Americans or Afro-Canadians being the exception in the NHL. “This is a much stronger message than anything a player or two could do on the ice,” said Vegas Golden Knights black hockey professional Ryan Reaves. “The conversation started with white players from other teams who wanted to speak. That’s strong. “The league said:” The NHL supports the decision and will make up for the four duels on Saturday and adjust the schedule accordingly. “
At the Masters 1000 tournament of the tennis professionals, which was moved from Cincinnati to New York, Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka initially announced that she would not play in her semifinals. Shortly thereafter, the organizers canceled all four women’s and men’s semi-finals for Thursday and announced a break in play until Friday. In a statement, the 22-year-old wrote: “After my announcement on Wednesday and lengthy discussions, I agreed to play on Friday. I was offered to postpone all the games, and I think that has already attracted a lot of attention to the movement. ”The former world number one finally beat Belgian Elise Mertens 6: 2, 7: 6 (7: 6) in a hard-fought semi-final. 5) and now meets Viktoria Asarenka (Belarus).
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