The NBA playoffs are still postponed, but basketball will soon return. Players have agreed to resume the playoffs, and some form of new action is likely to take place to end systemic racism and create social justice.
While the games themselves don’t seem as vital as off-field NBA paints, that doesn’t mean players are in a position to get back into the game they love. Los Angeles Clippers coach Doc Rivers said his team “hopes” to resume their first-round series with the Dallas Mavericks.
“They’re looking ahead,” Rivers told Fox Prime Ticket on Thursday. “Yesterday was a very difficult day. As if his feelings were everywhere. They think it’s over. It was a difficult day for everyone.”
Rivers said he believes the NBA will form an organization focused on voting, police reform and social justice.
Coach one of the top frank leaders in the NBA bubble following the murder of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Sunday. Rivers gave a tear-deep testimony Tuesday about being black in America. The next day, the NBA postponed the playoffs after the Milwaukee Bucks refused to leave the locker room.
Milwaukee is 64 km north of Kenosha, where Blake was shot seven times in the back through Officer Rusten Sheskey as he walked to his car after allegedly seeking to calm a dispute between two women. The 29-year-old black boy is still expected to be paralyzed from the waist down. It is not known if the condition is persistent.
In the NBA bubble near Orlando, Florida, players demanded action. While hiding in the locker room, the Bucks called the deputy governor and the Wisconsin attorney general to seek justice on Blake’s behalf. Later, all NBA bubble players gathered to discuss their options.
It’s a rough night on every level. Rivers, however, proud of the moment, shared his mind with Clippers goalkeeper Lou Williams after the assembly ended.
“Dude, what a difficult day, ” said Rivers to Williams. “And he was like, ” what’s that? What is a smart day? “And I said, “You had one yesterday. One day he comes back and you perceive him.”
As the league prepares to move on, the effects of those difficult days will be revealing, one or the other.