The NBA, its teams and players have all worked together well in hopes of completing the 2019-20 season at Walt Disney World in Orlando amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Though, there’s another major backstory surrounding the resumption of the NBA season and the current playoffs. It has to do with police brutality and the ongoing Black Lives Matter protests.
This was taken to a whole new level over the weekend after an African-American man by the name of Jacob Blake was shot seven times in the back by police offers in the Wisconsin city of Kenosha.
The Association and its players have been in the forefront of supporting ongoing protests following the murder of George Floyd by a then-Minneapolis police officer back in May. That has included protests during the national anthem in Orlando.
We now have some more information on what the players plan to do. Potential actions include boycotting games in protest, something that would be seen as an extreme measure.
NBA players considering boycotting games in protest
“The NBA Players Association executive committee is in active discussions with players who are seeking guidance on the logistics of potentially boycotting games,” Chris Haynes of Yahoo! Sports reported Wednesday. “Players began reaching out to the committee in recent days, sharing that they’re not in the right frame of mind to play basketball.”
The meeting reportedly took place at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort Tuesday night. It included NBPA President Chris Paul and vice president Andre Iguodala.
This report also comes on the heels of Los Angeles Clippers head coach Doc Rivers’ emotional statement following his team’s win over the Dallas Mavericks Tuesday evening.
The above-mentioned report notes that there is a “sizable faction of players who are psychologically distraught” by the video of Mr. Blake’s shooting this past weekend.
All options are being considered inside the Orlando bubble. As noted, that includes potentially boycotting games in protest.