2020 NBA Catch-All: Offseason

That’s awful. It sure looks intentional and assuming it was that feels like at least a suspension for a couple of games.

Dammit. Playoff games do not belong on NBA TV

Sounds like there might be no game anyway, in protest of the attempted murder of Jacob Blake by police.

Yep. Bucks boycott (strike?) and Orlando went back to locker room too. So I guess it's not a forfeit.

Watching all this unfold on Twitter.

Lot happening today. Shams just put out a tweet that the Rockets and OKC are boycotting as well.

Oh it does count as a loss for the Bucks they are saying on ESPN. Series now 3-2.

Houston and OKC left the gym. I think no games tonight. Maybe tomorrow neither.

Stele wrote:

Houston and OKC left the gym. I think no games tonight. Maybe tomorrow neither.

The thing I hope the NBA players can articulate, because I'm pulling for them and I want them to be successful, is what they hope to see done. Will they just miss a night of games? Or will they demand action of some kind and what action?

They're obviously not going to take down the whole system with one day of striking (this isn't a boycott, it's a strike). But they could realistically with enough pressure get Breonna Taylor's murderers arrested and Jacob Blake's attempted murderers indicted.

Unfortunately I don’t think the people in charge in those states care enough about the NBA to get those officers arrested. If this was the NFL that might be another story.

And regarding the Bucks game: the Magic did not accept the forfeit so it isn’t a loss, and I would guess the retroactive postponement would have erased it anyway.

Players meeting at 8pm tonight. Hopefully they will come out with a statement or plan of some type.

Yeah NBA statement said all 3 games rescheduled. Good for Bucks.

Stele wrote:

Players meeting at 8pm tonight. Hopefully they will come out with a statement or plan of some type.

Yeah NBA statement said all 3 games rescheduled. Good for Bucks.

I hope this catches on with all the leagues and with CFB!

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/5QNaZk9.png)

Stele wrote:

Yeah NBA statement said all 3 games rescheduled.

To me this takes some of the oomph out of a boycott or forfeiture of games by the players if the league's just moving them to another day.

@ShamsCharania wrote:

Sources: The Lakers and Clippers have voted to boycott the NBA season. Most other teams voted to continue. LeBron James has exited the meeting.

@ShamsCharania wrote:

Sources: Miami's Udonis Haslem spoke and essentially told everyone in room that -- without Lakers and Clippers, how will season continue?

LeBron James walked out. Rest of Lakers and Clippers exited behind him.

Woj has a bunch of stuff. Emotions are running high, and don't expect any basketball tomorrow either.

Prederick wrote:

LeBron James walked out. Rest of Lakers and Clippers exited behind him.

Yeah, that sounds like the end of the season right there to me.

TNT still did a half hour of Inside the NBA at 630 when the game would have started. Kenny walked out in solidarity with the players. Charles and Shaq, and Chris Webber, and another reporter, and coach, all had some good dialogue.

But one thing Charles and Shaq pointed out, most of the stars and starters can walk away. They already have money in the bank, they have endorsements. Some of the young guys and the bench guys need to play and get paid. Could be a bit of a rift there between protests for a few days and stopping the playoffs.

Could be. However, that’s what unions and strike funds are for.

I am all for the players leveraging their power to advance social justice. However, I don't see how refusing to play the rest of the season helps them. I never understood why they would give up the platform or when there was talk about not going to the bubble so they could do anti-racism activities. Every day they play they get a chance to talk on national TV and reach millions of people. Days that they don't play... I guess they can post on twitter? Go to a protest and reach a couple of thousand? Once a week get a short voice over on Sportscenter? Maybe I am missing something, but at least from what I see when is their voice bigger than on game day?

Would Doc's post game commentary from last night have the reach or been as impactful if it was on a random Tuesday from his house? I don't think so. I don't think it would have even happened if it wasn't post game and he was in front of a crowd of reporters. Fight the fight. Use the biggest platform you have. I just don't think most players have a bigger platform than game days and the built-in audience + media availability.

I think these young, mostly black men decided that a police shooting and 2 militia killings in 2 days meant they had to do *something* meaningful and then figure out what to do next. That they couldn’t do nothing.

I hope you’re not criticizing them for not having figured it all out in advance, because I don’t think they have and I think that’s okay. They decided to withhold their labor for now and work on their next move.

Their action has reached many people who don't watch NBA anymore like me. The action means more than trying to drop info on sportcenter.

I tend to agree that if only those two teams voted to stop the season, the season should continue. Advance Portland to play the winner of Jazz/Nuggets, and Dallas to play the winner of Rockets/Thunder.

It should be up to the players though, both at a team and individual level.

The young players and bench guys do need to weigh the need to get paid. Some guys only get one contract in their lives. Idealists on Twitter can say that everything should shut down, but some guys understandably want or need to use this one chance to change their family’s fortunes going forward. The NBPA has a lockout fund of $20m, but that’s nowhere near sufficient. See Ed Davis’ response to Kyrie and Dwight from back in June.

There’s a lot of conflicting info but the only consistencies are that the players are extremely upset and want the league owners to do more.

DSGamer wrote:

I hope you’re not criticizing them for not having figured it all out in advance, because I don’t think they have and I think that’s okay. They decided to withhold their labor for now and work on their next move.

Not at all and I absolutely agree with their decision to strike from the games while they figure it out. I was talking about the longer term strategy and how to make their voices the most heard and I am just not sure how they do that better than when they have the built in wide audience and media presence of games. Maybe that is personal bias based on how I consume media and news and there is another avenue for them with wider reach?

Looking forward to hearing about concrete demands. Sounds like the Bucks are asking for the WI legislature (Republican led; recall that Republicans just put a Karen and Kyle on the Big Stage for pointing loaded weapons at BLM protesters) to reconvene and vote on the package that the Dem governor put out in June with law enforcement policy changes in it.

This is more than just the Jacob Blake shooting. It's also the impunity that was demonstrated by the militia folks with a guy wasting people with dozens of witnesses because Property>People...and walking right by the loaded up cops...all the way to his home in a neighboring state.

We've got f*cking George Wallace as President, an entire news org of Father Coughlins, and a bunch of Joseph McCarthys in every legislature across the country and in DC. sh*t is f*cked up.

Sounds like the playoffs will go on for now.

LeapingGnome wrote:

I am all for the players leveraging their power to advance social justice. However, I don't see how refusing to play the rest of the season helps them. I never understood why they would give up the platform or when there was talk about not going to the bubble so they could do anti-racism activities. Every day they play they get a chance to talk on national TV and reach millions of people. Days that they don't play... I guess they can post on twitter? Go to a protest and reach a couple of thousand? Once a week get a short voice over on Sportscenter? Maybe I am missing something, but at least from what I see when is their voice bigger than on game day?

Would Doc's post game commentary from last night have the reach or been as impactful if it was on a random Tuesday from his house? I don't think so. I don't think it would have even happened if it wasn't post game and he was in front of a crowd of reporters. Fight the fight. Use the biggest platform you have. I just don't think most players have a bigger platform than game days and the built-in audience + media availability.

Because people have learned to tune the players out if they don't like it. They are taking a billion dollars out of NBA owner's hands. They are taking a ton of money from TV that wanted to show the games. Sports has the power to force people who do not pay attention to politics, to pay attention.

And we don't need all the players. LeBron organized a group. I expect him to get Mahomes on board, too. Could be an interesting test for Mahomes.

Vector wrote:

There’s a lot of conflicting info but the only consistencies are that the players are extremely upset and want the league owners to do more.

This makes sense.

I agree with others that the biggest voice they have is while basketball is actually going on though.

Not to mention playing = money to players which means money to wherever they want including social causes + charities. Transfer of wealth is a real thing. I'm sure LeBron will be in some sort of ownership when the time comes.