NBA players reportedly decided to resume the following season at Walt Disney World Resort following their protest following Jacob Blake’s police shooting.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the players agreed at a meeting on Thursday to continue the playoffs, but discussions are underway about when games will resume.
Wojnarowski noted Thursday’s scheduled games: Denver Nuggets versus Utah Jazz; Boston Celtics versus Toronto Raptors; Los Angeles Clippers v Dallas Mavericks: will be postponed. Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported that the NBA and the players “aim” to restart the playoffs on Friday.
According to Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes, LeBron James had a “change of position” on whether to play or not, “saying it was in their best interest to finish the season.” On Wednesday night, according to Charania, the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers had voted to end the season.
Charania noted that “today’s players have discussed the sacrifices all of them have made to reach this point in the postseason, and the sense of normalcy that returns with families entering Disney Campus. The players who voted not to play on Wednesday. evening they understood “.
This comes after Wojnarowski reported that the Milwaukee Bucks decided to miss Wednesday’s playoff game against the Orlando Magic. Charania reported that the Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder have chosen to do the same with their playoff game.
The NBA then announced that all three playoff games on Wednesday, including the one between the Los Angeles Lakers and Portland Trail Blazers, have been postponed.
According to Wojnarowski, every NBA player was invited to a meeting to discuss what the next steps would be following the postponements. Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix quoted a veteran player who said before the match: “The season is in danger.”
However, Haynes added: “There are a considerable number of players who have been hoping to finish the season since sacrifices were made to enter the bubble, believing the NBA platform to be a useful asset in this social climate.”