LeBron James wants things to change in the country, and if it means stop playing basketball for the time being, then he’s all for it. On Wednesday, the NBA made the decision to postpone all three playoff games after the Milwaukee Bucks decided to boycott their game to protest the Jacob Blake shooting. When James heard the news, he sent a very powerful message on Twitter.
“F— THIS MAN!!!” James wrote in all caps. “WE DEMAND CHANGE. SICK OF IT.” James has been one of the many players who have been outspoken of the shooting of Blake, a Black man from Wisconsin who was shot seven times by an officer on Sunday. Before Blake was shot, he was attempted to enter the driver’s side of his vehicle while officers were following him. His three children were reportedly in the car when the shooting occurred.
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“The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association today announced that in light of the Milwaukee Bucks’ decision to not take the floor today for Game 5 against the Orlando Magic, today’s three games – Bucks vs. Magic, Houston Rockets vs. Oklahoma City Thunder and Los Angeles Lakers vs. Portland Trail Blazers – have been postponed. Game 5 of each series will be rescheduled,” the league said in a statement.” James is so angry about the racial and social injustice, he is looking for the rest of the NBA season to be called off. According to multiple reports, the Lakers and the Los Angeles Clippers both voted to end the NBA playoffs in a meeting among players in the bubble in Orlando, Florida. No official announcement has been made on the status of the season.
“I know people get tired of hearing me say it, but we are scared as Black people in America,” James said to reporters earlier this week. “Black men, Black women, Black kids, we are terrified.” What happened on Wednesday, isn’t the first time in NBA history. According to USA Today, Lakers Hall of Famer Elgin Baylor boycotted a game in 1959 to protest hotel segregation in Charleston, South Carolina. In 1961, Celtics players refused to play a game in Lexington, Kentucky when a restaurant would not allow Bill Russell to sit inside. There was an incident in 2014 when Clippers players nearly boycotted games when owner Donald Sterling made racist comments.
