The boycott of the NBA playoffs shows nation that injustice is bigger than sports right now | Opinion
Sports are leading the way. Again.
Athletes are leading the way in the call — no, the demand — for racial justice in America and an end to unwarranted police force.
On Wednesday, the NBA postponed all three Game 5s of the 2020 playoffs being held in the Orlando bubble after the Milwaukee Bucks boycotted their game against Orlando to protest the shooting of unarmed Jacob Blake.
In addition to Bucks-Magic (whose series winner will face the Miami Heat next), the Houston-Oklahoma City and L.A. Lakers-Portland games also will be rescheduled.
Blake, who is Black, was shot at least seven times in the back by police on Sunday in Kenosha, Wisconsin, about 45 minutes from Milwaukee, as three of his children looked on. His family has said Blake is paralyzed from the waist down.
It was the latest in a series of such incidents, including the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, that have led to an uprising of protests in the streets across the United States led by the Black Lives Matter movement.
As the news of Milwaukee’s boycott broke, Lakers superstar LeBron James wrote this in all caps to his 47 million Twitter followers:
“F--- THIS MAN!!!! WE DEMAND CHANGE. SICK OF IT”
Except he did not include dashes on that first word.
Almost four years ago then-NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick opened eyes to the social injustice issue by leading players across the league who knelt during the national anthem in protest of police treatment of Blacks.
Now, as systemic racism in America becomes harder and harder to deny, to not see, NBA teams’ actions are making a bold statement that injustice going on in the United States is of far more urgent importance than sports, than a basketball game. Even a playoff game.
Boston and Toronto players are now discussing boycotting Thursday’s Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series.
The WNBA, led by the Atlanta Dream, joined with the NBA is boycotting its Wednesday games.
In MLB Wednesday, the Milwaukee-Cincinnati and San Diego-Seattle games joined the boycott.
So did Major League Soccer, inlcuding a postponement of the Inter Miami match.
In a statement, the Miami Heat made clear there is no longer an acceptable pretense that systemic racism does not exist. Said the Heat:
“Enough. We have all witnessed the disparity in how the police treat unarmed Black men and women vs. armed White men. This unequal treatment of Black people at the hands of polce has to stop. Now. We stand firmly with the NBA players and support their decision to protest.”
Good for the NBA and commissioner Adam Silver, too, for supporting these actions by players. Silver could have taken a hard line, even threatening that the Bucks would forfeit Wednesday’s game if they did not play.
But this is sports’ most progressive league, one that is predominantly comprised of Black athletes. It has allowed players to wear slogans such as Black Lives Matter and Say Their Names on the back of their jerseys during these playoffs. Coaches, players and referees have been kneeling in solidarity before games, which are not being attended by fans because of the coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic.
Good for other sports in joining in.
There will be blowback against the NBA and others for the boycotts. The “shut up and play” crowd will be out. Some will declare this is alienating many fans and damaging brands.
So be it. It takes drastic action when a tipping point has been reached. When police officers are killing Black people, over and over again, without just cause.
This is a national crisis, and so the response must be visceral and dramatic.
It might mean NFL players kneeling during the national anthem — not to disrespect the flag, but to get your attention.
It might mean thousands of citizens of all races rallying in the streets across the land.
It might mean NBA teams and other leagues boycotting in a demonstration of what’s most important to them as Americans, as people, not as players.
It might even work, someday.
It has to.
This story was originally published August 26, 2020 at 6:16 PM.
