The Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets will reportedly follow the lead of the Milwaukee Bucks and Orlando Magic and boycott Game 5, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
The boycotts were prompted by the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Blake was shot in the back seven times by a police officer on Sunday as he opened the door to his car. He survived but is paralyzed, the family’s attorney told CBS News.
Police had reportedly been called for a domestic incident. Blake’s family said Blake had gotten out of his car to try to break up the fight, according to ABC Chicago. Video shows police following him with their guns out as he walked back to his car, and after Blake opened the door, he was shot several times.
There have been in Kenosha since, and the National Guard was called into the area, according to the Washington Post.
The Thunder were scheduled to hold the usual pregame press conference at 3:45 p.m. Central Time. It was initially postponed 15 minutes and then later canceled.
After Game 4 of the Thunder and Rockets series, Oklahoma City point guard and National Basketball Players Association president Chris Paul brought up Blake in an on-court interview.
15 seconds after a playoff game that came down to the wire and Chris Paul has this to say. What an incredible man. pic.twitter.com/iaQrPe2Q19
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) August 24, 2020
“I don’t know, that’s all good and well, I just want to send my prayers out to Jacob Blake and their family,” Paul said.
“The things that we decided to come down here to play for and we said we’re gonna speak on, the social injustice and the things that continue to happen to our people — it’s not right. It’s not right,” he said before pivoting to other issues.
“The win is good, but voting is real. I’m gonna challenge all my NBA guys, other sports guys, let’s try to get our entire teams registered to vote. There’s a lot of stuff going on in the country. Sports, it’s cool, it’s good and well, it’s how we take care of our families, but those are the real issues we gotta start addressing.”
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