Mini strikeat the bubble

A week ago, courtesy of the Milwaukee Bucks, the NBA playoffs was abruptly halted because of another shooting incident involving the police and a black man in Wisconsin.  The Bucks who refused to play against the Orlando Magic, acted on their own in protest of the police shooting, which had a good number of players from other teams not happy about the stoppage because they were not consulted.

Many were frustrated and emotions were high because they were caught off-guard as the other teams were never informed of Milwaukee’s plans.   They were forced to also sit out their games.  It was the intention of the Bucks to forfeit their game but was not expecting the 12 other teams inside the bubble to follow.

Milwaukee’s boycott effectively set a chain reaction of play interruptions across the US.  The WNBA followed suit and of this writing, there’s no word when play resumes.  The NFL stopped their preseason practices, baseball called off several games, hockey cancelled their playoff schedule and pro tennis at Flushing were halted.

In a more than two-hour, tense players’ meeting, some felt the need to go home to their families, others wanted to leave the bubble and join the movement in support of the black community while others just simply wanted to play.  There were walkouts and heated exchanges and because they couldn’t agree on things, players consented to sleep on the matter and meet again the following day.

Veterans like Jared Dudley, Udonis Haslem, LeBron James and players’ union officials Chris Paul and Andre Iguodala worked hard to find a solution which eventually led to the resumption of the games. 

A Zoom call between the players and team owners was made and were asked to do more to help the black community and to play a bigger role to combat racism.   The owners in turn promised to take action that would address social justice initiatives. 

Both sides agreed on three items:  a) establishment of a social justice coalition, b) work with local officials to have arenas converted into voting sites and c) have advertising spots in every playoff games that will raise awareness for voters’ access and opportunity. 

It can be noted that when games resumed last Sunday, messages were flashed on arena screens which urged fans to vote.   Some teams already had made their facilities available as voting centers. 

Team owners are all white, except for Michael Jordan who is the majority owner of the Charlotte Hornets.  It would be safe to say that the league is also controlled by them.  It was reported that some owners were not in favor of painting “Black Lives Matter” on the court or printed on the shirts worn by league employees. 

With racial concerns still to be addressed, the league is on very fragile grounds.  Add to the fact that somebody occupying the White House is not exactly a fan of the NBA and has some issues himself related to racial matters. 

Let’s hope that there won’t be any other incident involving the police and people of color because if it does happen again, let’s all say goodbye not only to the NBA but to sports.