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NBA playoff games will resume on Saturday after the league and players agreed Friday on plans for greater social justice and racial equality measures following the police shooting of Jacob Blake.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver and National Basketball Players Association executive director Michele Roberts said in a joint statement that “All parties agreed to resume NBA playoff games on Saturday.”
The move came on a third day of postponed NBA playoff games after the Milwaukee Bucks refused to take the court on Wednesday for a scheduled Eastern Conference first-round matchup against Orlando in the COVID-19 quarantine bubble at Disney World in Orlando, Florida.
The move led to postponements in support of social justice over the past two days in Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer, the Women’s NBA and the National Hockey League.
While players weren’t on the court, they were talking with NBA club owners about their desire to see the league undertake broader measures for social change, frustrated by video of Blake, a black man, being shot in the back seven times by a policeman in Kenosha, Wisconsin, as he tried to get into a car where his three children were seated.
“We look forward to the resumption of the playoffs and continuing to work together -– in Orlando and in all NBA team markets -– to push for meaningful and sustainable change,” the joint statement said.
“We had a candid, impassioned and productive conversation yesterday between NBA players, coaches and team governors regarding next steps to further our collective efforts and actions in support of social justice and racial equality.”
Players and the NBA established a social justice coalition, with representatives from players, coaches and team owners to focus on a broad range of issues, including increasing access to voting, promoting civic engagement and advocating meaningful police and criminal justice reform.
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