NBA players have agreed to to resume the postseason, ESPN has reported.
According to the report, despite their agreement,
Thursday night’s three playoff games will not take place.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski made this known in a tweet.
Today's three playoff games will be postponed, source tells ESPN. Discussion underway on when teams will resume play. https://t.co/A2PazNKDhy
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 27, 2020
According to the report, the decisions were made at a meeting which took place inside the NBA bubble near Orlando and was the second session to discuss whether to continue the 2020 postseason after Wednesday’s three-game boycott.
Also, NBA.com’s Sekou Smith reported that he expects some players to leave the NBA bubble even if the majority agree to play the remainder of the season
The three playoff games on Thursday’s schedule will not be played, per the report, and discussions are ongoing as to when play will resume, according to report.
The Dallas Mavericks and LA Clippers were scheduled to play Game 6 of their Western Conference first-round playoff series, as were the Denver Nuggets and Utah Jazz.
The Boston Celtics were also expected to play the Toronto Raptors in the opening game of their Eastern Conference semi-final series.
Wojnarowski tweeted: “The resumption of playoff games could come as soon as Friday, but there is expected to be a return to this season by the weekend.”
Protest over racial injustice
Los Angeles Lakers and LeBron James had earlier casted their votes to boycott the rest of the NBA playoffs.
They had also voted to
end the season immediately, in protest against racial injustice and police brutality following the shooting of Jacob Blake.
Already, Wednesday night’s NBA playoff games were all postponed after player boycotts, and it now seems the season could be over.
MLS, WNBA, MLB players followed NBA in boycotting games over Jacob Blake.
Blake was shot seven times by a white police officer last week in Wisconsin. He was seen entering a car while wearing white top, with two white police officers following him to the car and one of them eventually shot him upon entering the car.
The LA Clippers also voted against continuing the NBA season inside the bubble at Walt Disney World, leaving the season in a near-unsavable position.
Players were set to meet again today at 11am US time [4pm UK time], to discuss and make a plan for their next steps.
The Milwaukee Bucks have also refused to play against the Orlando Magic in game five of their playoff series.
By Melvin Tarlue