NBA Games Postponed After Bucks Boycott

The Milwaukee Bucks could have gone to the next round of the playoffs with a win against the Orlando Magic Wednesday. Instead, they boycotted the game to protest racial injustice. Magic players and referees were on the floor for the 4pm game, but they left after the Bucks refused to leave their locker room at AdventHealth Arena, the AP reports. Bucks players cited outrage over the police shooting of Jacob Blake, an unarmed Black man, by police in Kenosha Wis. "We're tired of the killings and the injustice," Bucks guard George Hill told ESPN. The Magic released a statement saying they stand with the "Milwaukee Bucks and the rest of the league condemning bigotry, racial injustice and the unwarranted use of violence by police against people of color."

The NBA later announced that the game had been postponed, along with the other two Wednesday playoff games, between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Portland Trail Blazers and between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Houston Rockets, the New York Times reports. The Bucks' move follows discussion among teams in the NBA's Walt Disney World "bubble" about boycotting games. "Some things are bigger than basketball," tweeted Bucks senior vice president Alexander Lasry. "The stand taken today by the players and org shows that we’re fed up. Enough is enough. Change needs to happen. I'm incredibly proud of our guys and we stand 100% behind our players ready to assist and bring about real change." (More NBA stories.)