Report: LA Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers Vote to Boycott NBA Season
Following a day of unprecedented strikes around the NBA, the LA Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers have voted not to play the remainder of the season, per The Athletic's Shams Charania.
According to Charania, the Clippers and Lakers were the only two teams to vote against continuing the season. Lakers star LeBron James reportedly said during a meeting between players, coaches and officials that he wants the league's owners to be more involved and take action.
The decision to hold the meeting came after all three of Wednesday's playoff games had been postponed as a result of all six teams refusing to take the floor.
The Milwaukee Bucks got the ball rolling on Wednesday afternoon, choosing to remain in the team locker room in the moments leading up to Game 5 of their first-round series with the Orlando Magic. Soon after, the Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets, Lakers and Portland Trail Blazers followed suit.
Perhaps what's most stunning about all of this is which teams are at the forefront of the decision. The Bucks, Lakers and Clippers are considered to be the teams most favored to win this year's NBA championship. Choosing to give up that opportunity truly shows that police brutality and systemic racism are bigger than basketball to this group of players.
It's hard to say what this means in regards to the remainder of the season at this point, but ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported earlier that the league's Board of Governors would meet on Thursday morning. That group will, seemingly, decide the fate of the season.
It was later revealed by Wojnarowski that the decision made by the Clippers and Lakers was "more of a polling, than a final vote", which adds to the idea that the decision will ultimately be made during tomorrow morning's meeting.
As it stands, though, don't expect to see postseason basketball until this is resolved.
