The LA Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers voted to strike during the NBA playoffs.
Today has been another whirlwind in the sports world. This evening, the NBA players still in the bubble in Orlando met to discuss continuing play. Only the LA Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers were against going on according to multiple reports.
As the NBA was slated to being another day of playoff basketball, something amazing happened. The Milwaukee Bucks refused to play in order to shed light on the social injustices, the most recent being the shooting of Jacob Blake. The other teams followed as did the WNBA, MLB, and MLS.
The players then planned a meeting on how to continue forward tonight as the NBA planned an emergency Board of Governors meeting for Thursday. According to multiple reports, both the Los Angeles Lakers and LA Clippers voted against continuing the season in favor of striking.
At first, these reports seemed like they were the final decision for both teams but Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN clarified that it was more of a poll and that the players intend to continue talking tomorrow when they reconvene.
The Clippers and Lakers voting on perhaps not continuing with the season was considered more of a polling, than a final vote, sources tell ESPN. The resumption of the playoffs remains still up in the air.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 27, 2020
No one is quite sure what will happen with the only certainty being that players are tired of seeing injustices continue in America and that they want to find a way to help end it.
According to Brad Turner of the LA Times, Kawhi Leonard and LeBron James, two of the bigger names in the sport, spoke up for their respective teams and were adamant about not playing.
The Clippers and Lakers are two of the NBA’s biggest powerhouses currently both in talent and financially, so having them stop playing would surely hurt the owners’ pockets. Perhaps by threatening to not play, the two teams are hoping they can leverage the league’s owners to step forward and also help stand for their cause. LeBron said just as much, asking for owners to be more involved.
With nothing officially accomplished tonight, tomorrow’s games are also in doubt. The players will reconvene tomorrow at 11:00 AM EST to continue their discussions with the Board of Governors meeting happening at the same time.