“We had a meeting. Some of the white players wanted to play. Most of the black players didn’t. Red [Auerbach] came to us and said Commissioner [J. Walter] Kennedy been in contact with mayors of both cities and they thought it was wise if we played because of the interest in the game. People would stay home to watch it. We had a debate. We didn’t want to see violence. Dr. King’s legacy had been nonviolent. So we played the game.” The Celtics won that night but the entire NBA shut down the playoffs for four days until after Dr. King had been buried. “We were in mourning, we very concerned what was going to happen,” Embry said. “Things calmed after the funeral. The communities moved from protest to mourning.”