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Thursday Call Between Players, Owners Addresses Player Concerns

August 28th, 2020 at 9:15am CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

A Thursday evening conference call between NBA players and owners addressed various player concerns ahead of a return to action, and seems to have pointed the way forward this season while satisfying both parties.

The NBA expects to resume its slate of playoff games on Saturday. All games have been postponed since Wednesday, when the Bucks refused to take the court in Game 5 of their first-round series against the Magic.

On Thursday’s call, players expressed a desire to be “proactive, not reactive” when it came to social justice causes, according to Taylor Rooks of Bleacher Report (Twitter link). Rooks says players called for a “dedicated coalition” within the league to address key issues of concern, including voting rights and structural police reform.

Shams Charania of Stadium and The Athletic (Twitter link) reports that players challenged team owners to create actions, rather than just financial commitments, adding that a new program will be developed by the NBA and the NBPA and will be devoted to regularly addressing “player-creative (social) initiatives.”

In speaking to Fox Prime Ticket, Clippers head coach Doc Rivers reiterated the desire from players to create a group devoted to tackling police reform, voting, and other extant social problems important to players, per ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk.

Rooks also tweets that Lakers All-Star LeBron James, whose new foundation More Than A Vote is designed to address voting inequities, was particularly vocal on Thursday’s call. According to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, LeBron had told players he was prepared to resume the season, but was willing to change course if he didn’t like what he heard on the call with owners. That conversation assuaged his concerns, per Haynes.

As Haynes explains, James was among the players who was initially upset about the fact that the Bucks decided not to play Wednesday’s game without telling any other teams or players, since it left everyone else scrambling to react, without a clear plan in place. The Bucks had been planning to forfeit the game vs. Orlando and didn’t necessarily anticipate that their decision would temporarily shut down the league, says Haynes.

LeBron’s “emotions got the best of him” on Wednesday, one source told Tania Ganguli and Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times, but he always supported the Bucks and was on board with what the majority of players wanted to do. He simply wanted “unity and a specific call to action,” sources tell Haynes.

Although Friday’s games won’t take place as initially scheduled, all 13 teams still at the Walt Disney World campus have scheduled practices for today, according to the NBA.

Luke Adams contributed to this post.

NBA Postseason Expected To Resume On Saturday

August 28th, 2020 at 6:41am CST by Luke Adams

AUGUST 28, 6:41am: Reports from Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle and Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press, among others, continue to point to Saturday as the day when the NBA’s postseason is on track to resume. We’re still waiting for official word from the league and the NBPA, but it appears increasingly unlikely that Friday’s games will be played as scheduled.

AUGUST 27, 1:28pm: NBA spokesperson Mike Bass has issued a statement confirming that Thursday’s games have been postponed and indicating that the league is hopeful to resume play either Friday or Saturday.

As reported by Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link) and confirmed by Bass, a meeting will take place today at 5:00pm eastern time to discuss the resumption.

Two players from each remaining playoff team, the owners of those 13 teams, commissioner Adam Silver, NBPA executive director Michele Roberts, and Hornets owner Michael Jordan (chair of the labor relations committee) will take part in that meeting, per Goodwill.

AUGUST 27, 1:07pm: The NBA playoffs are expected to resume on Saturday, according to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link).

Following Wednesday’s boycotts, NBA players decided today that they would resume the season. However, Thursday’s games are being postponed and it sounds like Friday’s will be as well.

According to Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe (Twitter link), the Celtics/Raptors second-round series that had been scheduled to begin on Thursday is now expected to tip off on Sunday. Tania Ganguli of The Los Angeles Times notes (via Twitter) that nothing is official yet, but says it sounds like the Lakers and Trail Blazers will play Game 5 of their first-round series on Saturday.

While no other dates have been confirmed so far, it seems safe to assume that the games originally scheduled for Wednesday would take place on Saturday, with Thursday’s contests being rescheduled to Sunday.

That would mean that Game 5 in two other playoff series – Bucks/Magic and Rockets/Thunder – would take place on Saturday, with the Jazz/Nuggets and Clippers/Mavericks playing Game 6 of their respective series on Sunday.

With meetings between players and team owners scheduled to take place later today, we’ll have to wait for official word from the NBA before locking anything in.

Damian Lillard Leaving Campus Due To Knee Injury

August 27th, 2020 at 2:17pm CST by Luke Adams

2:17pm: Lillard isn’t expected to require surgery on his injured knee, a source tells Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated (Twitter link).

7:00am: Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard is leaving the NBA’s Walt Disney World campus on Thursday to return to Portland, where he’ll undergo further examination of his injured right knee, the team announced (via Twitter).

Lillard was diagnosed with a right knee sprain after leaving Game 4 and had been ruled out for Game 5 before it was postponed. A Tuesday report suggested the All-Star guard was unlikely to return in the first round even if Portland had been able to force a Game 6 or Game 7, since he was unable to extend his right leg.

With the status of Game 5 still up in the air, it’s unclear how Lillard’s availability may be impacted. The NBA’s protocols state that players who leave the campus for medical exams or treatment aren’t necessarily subject to a full four days of quarantine if and when they return, but the Blazers star may not be healthy enough to play again this season anyway.

The team said in its statement that Lillard’s availability to return to the Orlando campus is “yet to be determined,” and that further updates will provided as necessary.

Lillard had been one of the NBA’s standout players since the season resumed in July. He earned bubble MVP honors by averaging 37.6 PPG and 9.6 APG on .497/.436/.888 shooting in the Blazers’ eight seeding games, then led the team to a win over Memphis in the Western Conference play-in game. Following his scorching-hot start this summer, Lillard has slowed down against the Lakers, in part due to health issues. Before injuring his knee in Game 4, he dislocated his left index finger in Game 2.

Players Decide To Resume Playoffs; Thursday’s Games To Be Postponed

August 27th, 2020 at 11:01am CST by Luke Adams

The three NBA playoff games scheduled to take place on Thursday will be postponed, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter links). However, players have decided to resume the postseason and discussions are underway about when that will happen, Wojnarowski reports.

Games appear likely to resume as soon as Friday, per Shams Charania of The Athletic and Jeff Goodman of Stadium (Twitter links).

[UPDATE: NBA Hopes To Resume Postseason By Saturday]

According to Charania (Twitter link), NBA players who met today want to find “new and improved ways” to make social justice statements as they prepare to restart play.

Another meeting will take place today on the Orlando campus at 4:00 pm eastern time, with two players from each team participating, per Goodman and Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter links). The goal of that meeting will be to formulate a specific action plan to address racial injustice issues and to work out the logistics of restarting play, a source tells MacMahon (Twitter link).

A meeting of NBA owners and players is also set up for later today, Wojnarowski and Marc Spears of ESPN report (via Twitter). It sounds like that will be a separate meeting, though it figures to focus on similar issues.

“The bubble is about more than just crowning a champion,” one veteran player told Spears (Twitter link). “More so now than ever. It felt like the message was fading. Hopeful this can create a new level of activism and commitment from our owners, (the) league, (and) teams towards real change.”

After the Bucks decided not to play Game 5 of their first-round series against the Magic on Wednesday to protest social and racial injustices, the Rockets, Thunder, Lakers, and Trail Blazers followed suit, and the NBA postponed those games.

Today’s contests between the Nuggets and Jazz, Celtics and Raptors, and Mavericks and Clippers will also need to be rescheduled. Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press (Twitter link) hears that one “common-sense” scenario being considered is to simply push each game back by two days, from Wednesday to Friday and Thursday to Saturday.

Following Wednesday’s boycott, players gathered last night to discuss next steps and that meeting reportedly got “emotional.” Players from the Lakers and Clippers voted in favor of ending the season, while other teams voted to continue playing and some players – including CJ McCollum – cautioned against giving up the platform afforded by the NBA’s bubble.

After further discussions both last night and this morning, LeBron James and other prominent players changed their positions, agreeing that it’s in players’ best interest to finish the season, tweets Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.

Sources tell Charania that players today discussed the sacrifices they’ve made to reach this point of the 2019/20 season, as well as the sense of normalcy that will be gained when family members are allowed to enter the Orlando campus next week (Twitter link). Everyone was ultimately in agreement on restarting the season, one player told Goodman (Twitter link).

Optimism That Most NBA Players Want To Continue Season

August 27th, 2020 at 9:54am CST by Luke Adams

Among key NBA players, there’s optimism that a majority of players want to continue the playoffs and complete the 2019/20 season, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). Sources tell Wojnarowski that several members of the Lakers, as well as players around the league, stayed up for hours after Wednesday night’s meeting to continue discussing the issues.

Players are scheduled to reconvene this morning at the same time that the league’s team owners hold a conference call to discuss the situation.

Doc Rivers and Chris Paul were among those who called upon players at last night’s meeting to come away with a plan of action and two or three “clear items” that the NBA can help them act upon, such as police reform and accountability or voter registration, according to an ESPN report.

Paul also wanted to make sure that players understand the financial ramifications of not finishing the 2019/20 season, which could be “cataclysmic,” one league executive told ESPN. NBPA leadership told players that they could lose about about 25-30% of their salaries for next season and would risk termination of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

According to ESPN’s report, CJ McCollum challenged players who wanted to end the season not to forfeit their platform by quietly heading back home, while Jaylen Brown and Andre Iguodala were among those who called for players to join the “front lines” of the fight for social justice if they stop the season.

While players would reportedly like to see team owners do more to address the issues the players are protesting, some owners have privately wondered what more they can do, according to ESPN. The league’s Board of Governors recently committed $300MM over the next 10 years to a foundation that aims to “create economic opportunity and empowerment in the Black community,” ESPN notes.

The players want the Board of Governors’ support in pushing for policy changes, according to Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Turning teams’ arenas into voting centers for this year’s election could be another actionable item for franchises. Several clubs have already announced their intentions to use their arenas as voting centers, with the Rockets becoming the latest to do so this morning.

Lakers, Clippers Vote To Boycott Season; Others Vote To Continue

August 26th, 2020 at 9:44pm CST by Luke Adams

The Lakers and Clippers voted tonight to boycott the remainder of the 2019/20 NBA season, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter links). According to Charania, the rest of the teams in the NBA’s Orlando bubble voted to continue playing. The meeting has now concluded, tweets Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.

The Lakers and Clippers were the first two teams to exit the meeting after registering their votes, per Haynes (Twitter link). According to David Aldridge of The Athletic (Twitter link), the meeting ended “ugly” and there’s uncertainty about what will happen on Thursday.

The NBPA will be present on the league’s Board of Governors call on Thursday morning, Aldridge adds. That call will take place at 11:00 am eastern time, tweets Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports.

Sources tell Charania (Twitter link) that Heat veteran Udonis Haslem spoke during tonight’s meeting and essentially said that it would be impossible for the season to continue without the top two teams in the West. However, tonight’s vote was considered “more of a polling” than a final decision, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who tweets that the resumption of the postseason remains up in the air.

Wojnarowski adds (via Twitter) that the discussion about whether to continue the season will extend into tomorrow, but for now it seems unlikely that that Thursday’s three postseason games will be played as scheduled.

“Everyone is still too emotional,” a high-ranking source told Woj. “There needs to be more time to come together on this.”

According to both Charania and Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe (Twitter links), LeBron James was vocal in calling out the league’s team owners, indicating that he wants them to be more involved and take action on the social justice issues being highlighted by the players. Washburn adds that James wants commissioner Adam Silver to do more as well, with some players expressing annoyance that Silver has been “noticeably absent” for the majority of the summer restart.

While the East’s top two teams apparently didn’t vote to boycott the rest of the season, the Bucks and Raptors provided “some of the strongest voices” on the idea of shutting down the bubble, according to Chris Mannix of SI.com (Twitter link).

The Raptors were the first team to publicly talk about a boycott earlier this week, while the Bucks were the first team to do so earlier today. Charania reports (via Twitter) that there was some frustration expressed in the meeting tonight by those who felt blindsided by Milwaukee’s walk-out plan.

If the 2019/20 season isn’t completed, it would have a serious impact on the NBA’s revenues and salary cap and would potentially blow up the league’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. According to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link), Trail Blazers guard CJ McCollum asked for a financial breakdown of the potential effect on the CBA. Players have been told that lost revenue would be between 15-35% if they stop playing and go home tomorrow, a source tells Pompey.

Besides the financial impact of ending the season, some of the other themes of the meeting were Chris Paul expressed a desire for player unity, McCollum expressing a need for a plan of action, and Clippers head coach Doc Rivers talking about using the NBA’s platform to push voting and police accountability (Twitter link via Wojnarowski).

Bucks Co-Owners, Players Issue Statements

August 26th, 2020 at 6:35pm CST by Luke Adams

Bucks co-owners Marc Lasry, Wes Edens, and Jamie Dinan have put out a statement in response to their players’ decision not to play Game 5 of their first-round series against Orlando on Wednesday. Within the statement, the Bucks co-owners said they “fully support” the players’ decision.

“Although we did not know beforehand, we would have wholeheartedly agreed with them,” Lasry, Edens, and Dinan said. “The only way to bring about change is to shine a light on the racial injustices that are happening in front of us. Our players have done that and we will continue to stand alongside them and demand accountability and change.”

In addition to the Bucks, ownership groups of other teams that were scheduled to play have put out statements of their own. The Magic‘s team owners said they “stand united” with the Bucks and the rest of the league in “condemning bigotry, racial injustices, and the unwarranted use of violence by police against people of color.” Lakers owner Jeanie Buss said she stands behind the players “today and always” (Twitter link).

All of today’s games were ultimately postponed, but it was the Bucks’ decision to boycott that created a domino effect. The Bucks’ efforts to raise awareness and enact change resulted in the team getting on a conference call with Wisconsin attorney general Josh Kaul and lieutenant governor Mandela Barnes this evening, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

Milwaukee players also appeared outside their locker room tonight, where Sterling Brown and George Hill read a prepared statement to media members. Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link) provided video of that statement.

“We are calling for justice for Jacob Blake and demand the officers be held accountable,” Hill said. “For this to occur, it is imperative for the Wisconsin State Legislature to reconvene after months of inaction and take up meaningful measures to address issues of police accountability, brutality, and criminal justice reform.”

Players at the Orlando campus are expected to meet within the next hour to discuss potential next steps. According to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link), coaches in the bubble have also been invited to attend that meeting. NBPA executive director Michele Roberts will also be in attendance, tweets John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7.

NBA Says Wednesday’s Games Will Be Rescheduled; Players To Discuss Next Steps

August 26th, 2020 at 4:23pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA has announced in a press release that all three Game Fives scheduled to take place on Wednesday have been postponed and will be rescheduled.

Bucks players led a boycott of this afternoon’s game against the Magic, with the Thunder, Rockets, Trail Blazers, and Lakers quickly deciding to follow suit. The protests stem from a desire to raise awareness of social and racial injustices and enact change, and come in response to the recent police shooting of Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter), the NBA, team owners, and front offices didn’t see today’s wave of player boycotts coming — as a few hours ago, they expected all of today’s games to take place.

NBA players have called a meeting for Wednesday night in Orlando to discuss and determine potential next steps, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

As Chris Mannix of SI.com notes (via Twitter), some teams – including the Raptors – have discussed the possibility of leaving the bubble altogether. Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe (Twitter link) hears that the Raptors and Celtics are leaning toward not playing Game 1 of their second-round series on Thursday.

Thunder, Rockets, Lakers, Blazers To Boycott Wednesday’s Games

August 26th, 2020 at 3:56pm CST by Luke Adams

In the wake of the Bucks’ decision to boycott Game 5 of their first-round playoff series against the Magic, the Thunder and Rockets will follow suit and boycott Game 5 of their series this evening, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter).

The Lakers and Trail Blazers, who were scheduled to play Game 5 of their series later tonight, are also boycotting, according to Charania (via Twitter). Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports first reported (via Twitter) that Portland and L.A. were leaning toward not playing tonight’s game.

The protests are a response to the recent police shooting of Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

The Raptors and Celtics, who are scheduled to play Game 1 of their second-round series on Thursday, had been the first teams to broach the topic of a boycott. Raptors guard Fred VanVleet explained the thinking behind the idea to reporters earlier this week.

“We knew coming here or not coming here was not going to stop anything, but I think ultimately playing or not playing puts pressure on somebody,” VanVleet said, per Malika Andrews and Tim Bontemps of eSPN. “So, for example, this happened in Kenosha, Wisconsin, if I’m correct? Would it be nice if, in a perfect world, we all say we’re not playing, and the owner of the Milwaukee Bucks — that’s going to trickle down. If he steps up to the plate and puts pressure on the district attorney’s office, and state’s attorney, and governors, and politicians there to make real change and get some justice.

“I know it’s not that simple. But, at the end of the day, if we’re gonna sit here and talk about making change, then at some point we’re gonna have to put our nuts on the line and actually put something up to lose, rather than just money or visibility.”

Bringing attention to social justice issues and systemic racism was among the players’ primary goals when they agreed to the NBA’s restart plan this summer. However, in the wake of the latest shooting of a Black man by police, a number of players felt as if their efforts to raise awareness and enact change were being overshadowed by on-court results and have decided to change their tactics.

Davis Probable, Rondo Doubtful For Game 5

August 25th, 2020 at 4:56pm CST by Luke Adams

Although he left Game 4 on Monday due to back spasms, Lakers star Anthony Davis is expected to be good to go on Wednesday and is being listed as probable on the injury report. However, point guard Rajon Rondo is still “banged up” and likely won’t play, per head coach Frank Vogel (Twitter links via Dave McMenamin of ESPN). Rondo is being listed as doubtful for Game 5.