Lakers, Bucks headline NBA return as league vows more social support

The Los Angeles Lakers and the Milwaukee Bucks will try to wrap up their respective NBA first-round series on Saturday, August 29 (Sunday, August 30, Philippine time) when the playoffs resume after a boycott that rocked the league and rippled through the rest of US sport.

The league had been idle in its coronavirus quarantine bubble in Orlando since Wednesday, when the Bucks refused to take the court for Game 5 of their best-of-seven series against the Magic in the wake of the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

The Magic seconded their move and all games were canceled for 3 days as NBA players discussed whether to play on and hammered out plans with the league and its owners to tackle issues of racial injustice and police reform. (READ: ‘Bigger than basketball’: NBA sends strong message with boycott)

Saturday will also see the Oklahoma City Thunder taking on the Houston Rockets in a Western Conference series tied at 2-2, while the LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers will try to finish off the Portland Trail Blazers.

The Western Conference leading Lakers took a 3-1 series lead on Monday with a 135-115 victory over the Blazers, who saw star Damian Lillard exit in the 3rd quarter with a sprained right knee.

On Sunday, the second round begins with the reigning champion Toronto Raptors taking on the Boston Celtics in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference tussle.

That’s followed by two Western Conference first-round games.

The Los Angeles Clippers, up 3-2 on Dallas, will try to close out the Mavericks, while the Utah Jazz will try to send the Denver Nuggets home in Game 6 of their series.

Candid, impassioned

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.”

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.

In cities where the NBA team owns and controls its own arena, team owners will work with local elections officials to convert the facility into a voting location for the 2020 US general election, allowing safe in-person voting options in communities fearful of COVID-19.

If that option won’t work, NBA team owners will try to find another election-related use for the arena, such as for voter registration or ballot counting.

The league vowed to work with players and broadcast partners on advertisements in each playoff telecast dedicated to promoting greater civic engagement in elections.

“These commitments follow months of close collaboration around designing a safe and healthy environment to restart the NBA season, providing a platform to promote social justice, as well as creating an NBA Foundation focused on economic empowerment in the Black community,” the statement said.

Silver had told league employees the measures were coming as he expressed full support for the players’ walkout.

“We are dedicated to driving the sustainable change that is long overdue,” Silver wrote in an open letter to NBA employees posted on the league’s website.

“I wholeheartedly support NBA and WNBA players and their commitment to shining a light on important issues of social justice.

“I understand the pain, anger and frustration that so many of us are feeling in this moment. These are incredibly challenging times.

“While I don’t walk in the same shoes as Black men and women, I can see the trauma and fear that racialized violence causes and how it continues the painful legacy of racial inequity that persists in our country.” – Rappler .com