A seismic moment occurred in the basketball world on Wednesday afternoon. The Milwaukee Bucks refused to come out of their locker room prior to their playoff game against the Orlando Magic in response to the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man from Kenosha. That led to a chain reaction in which the Magic made their way into their locker room, the Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder decided to follow suit in not playing, and the Los Angeles Lakers and Portland Trail Blazers game was shelved as well.
By the time the NBA announced that the games were postponed, a full-blown player strike in the name of combatting social injustice was underway. As for what’s next, Shams Charania of The Athletic reported that players will convene for a meeting to map out a plan.
NBA players have called for a meeting tonight in Orlando to determine next steps, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 26, 2020
Adrian Wojnarowski confirmed this report, mentioning that every NBA player has been invited to join in on the call.
Every NBA player is invited to join the meeting in The Bubble at 8 PM to discuss how they'll proceed from today's boycotts, sources tell @ZachLowe_NBA and me.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 26, 2020
It is unclear what will happen, although some players, it had been mentioned, were considering leaving the Bubble altogether. In addition to the three games on Wednesday, it was reported that members of the Boston Celtics and the Toronto Raptors were considering not playing on Thursday night, when the two sides are slated to being an Eastern Conference Semifinal series.
UPDATE: According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the season could be on the line based on how the conversations go between players on Wednesday evening.
Emotions are raw, players were already worn out of bubble environment prior to the Jacob Blake shooting and sources say discussions within teams are ongoing about postponing tomorrow's three games too — and beyond. "The season is in jeopardy," one vet player here tells ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 26, 2020
Tonight's meeting with players will go a long way toward determining how the players will move forward with rest of season, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 26, 2020
