NBA Postpones Playoff Games For August 26 Amid Shooting of Jacob Blake

NBA players have been the league as a platform to send messages which include the need to fight social injustice. Wednesday (Thursday Manila time) saw them take it to another level as the Milwaukee Bucks led by newly-named Defensive Player of the Year, Giannis Antetokounmpo deciding to boycott the Game Five of their best-of-seven first-round series against the Orlando Magic who even warmed up for 15 minutes before leaving the court. Too. This development came after the United States was again rocked by another wave of police brutality that involved the fatal shooting of Jacob Blake, a black man in Wisconsin, who was paralyzed from the waist down after getting hit by four of the seven bullets fired upon him by the police who were allegedly trying to arrest Blake.  

The Bucks hold a 3-1 series.

As a result of the Bucks' decision to boycott, the National Basketball Association (NBA) has postponed all playoff games that are supposed to be played on August 26: Game Five between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Portland Trail Blazers and that of the Houston Rockets and the Oklahoma City Thunder. All of the postponed games will be rescheduled. Prior to this, the defending champions, Toronto Raptors, and the Boston Celtics were already considering boycotting Game One of their Eastern Conference semifinals series as Toronto Coach Nick Nurse said, "Boycotting the game has come up for them as a way to try to demand a little more action" Celtics star forward Jayson Tatum added, "It's an active discussion. People are upset, angry and we're just trying to come together to figure out how we can do something" 

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver agreed to postpone the said games (August 26 games) as no team will accept forfeiture of the games from their respective opponents. While there's no word yet from the NBA if the succeeding playoff games will be affected by the postponement too, one thing is clear: NBA stars want change. They have been using the league as a platform to push for change and they will continue to do so. That's what makes them role models to many. As written on the court in Orlando, "Black Lives Matter"

Photo is from A Sea of Blue