Tag: NBA strike

Over 15 years in league, Chris Paul has ‘never seen anything like’ NBA protest

Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Chris Paul said that he’s never seen anything like the NBA strike and that he’ll never forget it.

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The voices the NBA players were able to use publicly last week was a far cry from 15 years ago when Chris Paul joined the league.

It was different than six years ago, when Paul’s Los Angeles Clippers protested owner Donald Sterling but chose not to boycott or strike the game.

Over the days that athletes forced the NBA to postpone games, the now-Oklahoma City Thunder point guard said he hadn’t experienced anything like this.

“Fifteen years in this league and I’ve never seen anything like it,” Paul said. “Obviously I wasn’t the oldest one in the room, I think (Miami Heat center) Udonis Haslem was, but the voices that were heard, I’ll never forget it. I’ll never forget it.”

After the Milwaukee Bucks did not walk onto the court to play the Orlando Magic on Wednesday, the Magic and players on the other four teams scheduled to play that day also went on strike.

There was a meeting with players and coaches, where Black former NBA players and current coaches John Lucas of the Houston Rockets and Doc Rivers and Armond Hill of the Los Angeles Clippers spoke.

Then, athletes had a players-only meeting.

“Guys are tired. And I mean tired. And when I say tired, we’re not physically tired, we’re just tired of seeing the same thing over and over again,” Paul said.

The strike came in response to police shooting Jacob Blake, a Black man in Kenosha, seven times in the back.

The league agreed to three demands, all of which had a focus on voting: NBA governors will work with local officials to use arenas as voting sites; players, coaches and executives will form a social justice coalition; and more advertising time will be spent on encouraging voting and civic engagement.

“You get a chance to read and see pictures of the Cleveland Summit, for those who came before us, and the Muhammad Alis, and the Jim Browns and the Kareem Abdul-Jabbars, and how powerful they were,” Paul said.

“We’re not saying that we’re that, but what we’re doing right now in our league is huge.”

Paul thinks that younger players in the NBA will be able to use the experience to create more change within the league and society.

“I think for the young guys in our league, to get a chance to see how guys are really coming together and speak and see real change, real action,” he said.

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LeBron James and other NBA players sought advice from former president Barack Obama on activism

Obama convinced the players to keep playing.

It’s always good to have powerful people in your corner when you’re trying to fight for something. And, luckily for LeBron James and other NBA players, it doesn’t get any more powerful than former president Barack Obama.

After Wednesday’s player’s only meeting, James, Chris Paul and a small handful of other players sought the advice of Obama, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania.

They reached out to Obama for counsel on how to proceed with their activism in the fight for social justice. He essentially convinced the players to keep playing basketball.

During their conversation, Obama advised James and the other players to play and use the opportunity they have on the court to “contextualize action they want in order to play,” Charania reports. Players also suggested forming an action committee that the former president would be involved in.

Obama released a statement on his call with the players.

Just two days after their call, the players and league came out with an action plan that keeps the playoffs going while expanding the league’s reach in social justice initiatives.

So there you have it. Playoff basketball is back, but more importantly the players are still fighting for what they believe in.

Thanks, Obama.

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NBA players dispute report on exchange between Patrick Beverley, Michele Roberts

Players are saying the conversation didn’t happen how it was reported.

Patrick Beverley was turned into a villain on the internet today after Yahoo! Sports reported that he rudely interrupted Michele Roberts during a presentation to the NBA’s player’s during their meeting on Wednesday after the walkout.

He reportedly told Roberts that “I pay your salary” and wouldn’t let her continue a point about the financial losses the players could see if they chose not to continue the playoffs in the NBA’s bubble.

But apparently, according to some NBA players who were obviously at the meeting, it didn’t go down that way.

Roberts and Beverley did have some sort of moment with one another, but his teammates and other players are saying he absolutely did not tell her that he pays her salary.

His teammate Amir Coffee said that isn’t how it went down.

So did Ivica Zubac

And the Orlando Magic’s Vic Law.

So, it looks like something did happen. But it doesn’t seem to have happened in the fashion that it has been reported.

Beverley addressed the situation briefly when talking with the media on Friday.

“We had a very interesting conversation. PA is like a family…Everyone is part of a family. You don’t always agree with your family members and that’s OK. You communicate about it and you try to make it better. Whatever the dialogue was and whatever you guys think it is, we made things better yesterday meeting with the owners. And that’s the most important.”

So it doesn’t look like we’ll ever find out exactly what was said between the two and how the conversation went down. But it seems that some people may owe Beverley an apology.

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Everything we know so far about LeBron James’ role in the players-only meeting

What’s going on with LeBron?

LeBron James is the face of the NBA. Whatever direction he goes is the same direction the NBA goes, as Patrick Beverley so poignantly let us know ahead of the NBA’s restart.

That’s why it’s so confusing that we don’t really know what role James was playing in the NBA’s players-only meeting on Wednesday after the players refused to play in playoff games in response to the Jacob Blake shooting.

There have been so many conflicting reports coming out about James and how he felt about everything. Did he support the Bucks? Was he mad at them for sitting? What did he think about them not telling anyone?

The only common factor we seem to have is that he walked out of the room. Other than that? Everyone’s story is different.

It starts with Yahoo! Sports’ Chris Haynes reporting of the last 48 hours in the NBA’s bubble. According to his story, James was “miffed” about the Bucks last-minute protest and lack of an action plan behind it. Haynes reported that they put everyone in a “no-win” situation.

His frustration with Hill and the Bucks was because the players didn’t have a plan of action that would warrant players returning to play, sources said. James’ mindset, sources said, was if they’re refusing to play, then what’s the end game and what demands must be met to continue?

He was then asked by Miami’s Udonis Haslem what he wanted to do and he responded by saying the Lakers were out. Then they walked out of the room, per Haynes’ story.

Stephen A. Smith’s story sounds pretty similar to that one. He says that James was upset, but he also claimed that the Lakers star “turned off” young players by talking down to them in both the players only meeting and the meeting with owners.

“I heard he was speaking out of pocket and was talking to players in a fashion that really turned some of these young cats off… The younger generation were not having what they were hearing from LeBron James because the fashion in which he spoke to them. So when he stormed out of there I was told it was in part because of that.”

Yeah, that’s strange. But it gets even stranger. The Athletic’s Shams Charania sent out a… let’s just call it a weird tweet that seemed to explain James’ walkout in a more favorable light to the Bucks.

Charania reports that he supported the Bucks, but “actions and outcomes” mattered most to him. And the Bucks had no plan, so he walked out.

And then there’s Jeff Goodman’s report from the day of the meeting that say James didn’t say a single word at all.

This is all just strange. Especially after James seemed to completely be in favor of the Bucks’ walkout per his Twitter account.

*WARNING: This tweet contains some NSFW language* 

So, uh, yeah. Something doesn’t seem right here. Will we ever get to the bottom of it? Probably not.

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Around 100 NBA employees went on strike to show solidarity with the NBA’s players

Wow.

The Milwaukee Bucks kicked off a movement on Monday by deciding not to play Game 5 against the Orlando Magic.

Not only did their fellow athletes in the NBA follow suit, but so did players and teams across other leagues. Players from the WNBA, MLB and MLS all decided not to play in games to protest the shooting of Jacob Blake and demand more be done to bring justice and equality to Black people in America.

But it wasn’t just athletes who felt compelled to jump in on the action. Apparently, the NBA’s employees did, too.

As a stand in solidarity with the NBA’s and WNBA’s players, nearly 100 NBA employees went on strike on Friday at the league’s office, ESPN’s Malika Andrews reports.

Instead, they’re calling their local officials to demand justice.

They also wrote a letter to Adam Silver and the NBA as part of their strike, Andrews reports. It acknowledged the work the NBA has already done, but made clear that they believe the league can have a bigger impact.

“We acknowledge and credit all the work the NBA has already done. But we have the power to have a greater impact. The NBA has not done enough proactively, and rather has relied too heavily on our players… We understand that we are a business, but fears of losing revenue and advertisers should not numb us to the cries of Black men, women and children that continue to be oppressed in the same communities in which we play.”

The message has been received loud and clear from the NBA’s labor force. The NBA has done a lot of good, but the players and even the league’s staff don’t believe it’s done enough.

They believe the NBA and its owners can do more and, it seems, they’re willing to withhold their labor to push them into action. The ball is in the league’s court now.

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The NBA’s referees began a march to support the player’s protest

The NBA’s referees marched against racism on Thursday in a show of solidarity with the NBA player’s protests.

NBA players took a stand against racism and demanded equality for Black people across America by not playing in any games on Wednesday evening.

On Thursday morning, the NBA’s officials made sure the players weren’t standing alone.

Instead of remaining silent on the issue, the NBA’s referees decided to host a march on the NBA’s bubble campus in support of the players’ protests against racism and police brutality.

They all met up early on Thursday morning, and at 9 a.m. at Disney’s Coronado Springs resort, they began a march around the campus. It wasn’t just NBA officials, either. Team attendants and others who were living on the NBA’s campus during their restart also attended.

This is big. It’s a major show of solidarity with the players from the officials. Good on them for taking a stand.

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