Report: Raptors, Bucks Among 'Strongest' Voices to End Season
The Toronto Raptors and Milwaukee Bucks have had some of the "strongest" voices advocating to shut down the NBA's return, according to Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix.
The NBA shut down play Wednesday afternoon following the Bucks' decision to 'boycott' their Game 5 matchup against the Orlando Magic as a response to the shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man shot by police in Kenosha, Wis.
Players throughout the league held discussions over the past few days to discuss how to best move forward. Those discussions culminated in the Bucks' strike and now a league-wide players-only meeting being held Wednesday night to discuss how to move forward.
The meeting comes just days after a video was released in an ongoing legal battle between Raptors' president Masai Ujiri and Alameda County sheriff’s deputy Alan Strickland showing Strickland pushing Ujiri as he tried to join his team following the Raptors' 2019 NBA championship. Strickland sued Ujiri claiming he was assaulted by the Raptors president, but the video showed Strickland to be the initiator of the altercation. The incident led Ujiri to release a statement calling for justice for the Black men, women, and children wronged by law enforcement.
"And that’s why it’s important for all of us to keep demanding justice," Ujrii wrote in the statement. "Justice for George. Justice for Breonna. Justice for Elijah. Justice for far too many Black lives that mattered. And justice for Black people around the world, who need our voice and our compassion to save their lives."
As the players' meeting continues Wednesday night, there is a growing sense that Game 1 of the Raptors-Boston Celtics series that was scheduled to tip-off on Thursday night at 6:30 p.m. will be postponed or canceled, according to Mannix.
The Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers have reportedly voted to end the NBA season, Mannix reported.
"Unclear if that means they are going home, or if that's just their position," Mannix tweeted.
NBA has scheduled a Board of Governors meeting for Thursday morning, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
