NBA Teams Boycott Tonight's Playoff Games To Protest Jacob Blake Shooting

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An overview of the basketball court shows the NBA logo and Black Lives Matter before the start of a game between the Denver Nuggets and the Miami Heat at HP Field House at ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex on August 01, 2020 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.
The Bucks' boycott in protest of the Jacob Blake shooting leads the NBA to announce tonight's playoff games are postponed.

The NBA has announced tonight's games will be postponed after several teams announced they'd boycotting tonight's game in the wake of the shooting of Jacob Blake at the hands of the police. It began with the Milwaukee Bucks who play in Blake's home state of Wisconsin who revealed they wouldn't be attending tonight's playoff game against the Orlando Magic. The news was confirmed by NBA TV after the Bucks didn't emerge from their locker room. The league later revealed that tonight's games were postponed.

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"The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association today announced that in light of the Milwaukee Bucks’ decision to not take the floor today for Game 5 against the Orlando Magic, today’s three games – Bucks vs. Magic, Houston Rockets vs. Oklahoma City Thunder and Los Angeles Lakers vs. Portland Trail Blazers - have been postponed.  Game 5 of each series will be rescheduled," a statement reads on the NBA TV website.

Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder followed the lead of the Bucks' before the Lakers and Trailblazers also confirmed they wouldn't be playing tonight's game at 9 p.m.

"Some things are bigger than basketball. The stand taken today by the players and org shows that we’re fed up. Enough is enough," tweeted Bucks' senior VP Alex Lasry. "Change needs to happen. I’m incredibly proud of our guys and we stand 100% behind our players ready to assist and bring about real change."

Talks of boycotting have been circulating over the past few days. The Toronto Raptors reportedly had discussions on boycotting future games in the wake of Jacob Blake's shooting.

29-year-old Jacob Blake was shot seven times by Kenosha Police over the weekend in front of his kids. His father revealed that he's now paralyzed from the waist down. Many celebrities have also raised awareness about the incident in the past few days including 50 Cent and Cardi B. 

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Aron A.
Aron A. is a features editor for HotNewHipHop. Beginning his tenure at HotNewHipHop in July 2017, he has comprehensively documented the biggest stories in the culture over the past few years. Throughout his time, Aron’s helped introduce a number of buzzing up-and-coming artists to our audience, identifying regional trends and highlighting hip-hop from across the globe. As a Canadian-based music journalist, he has also made a concerted effort to put spotlights on artists hailing from North of the border as part of Rise & Grind, the weekly interview series that he created and launched in 2021. Aron also broke a number of stories through his extensive interviews with beloved figures in the culture. These include industry vets (Quality Control co-founder Kevin "Coach K" Lee, Wayno Clark), definitive producers (DJ Paul, Hit-Boy, Zaytoven), cultural disruptors (Soulja Boy), lyrical heavyweights (Pusha T, Styles P, Danny Brown), cultural pioneers (Dapper Dan, Big Daddy Kane), and the next generation of stars (Lil Durk, Latto, Fivio Foreign, Denzel Curry). Aron also penned cover stories with the likes of Rick Ross, Central Cee, Moneybagg Yo, Vince Staples, and Bobby Shmurda.
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