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Brother Leon · 27-08-2020, 06:28 AM

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Jacob Blake: NBA postpones games after Milwaukee Bucks boycott following police shooting
Thunder-Rockets Gm 5 and Trail Blazers @ Lakers Gm 5 also postponed; Lakers and Clippers players 'advocate boycotting' remainder of season; further players' meeting to take place on Thursday

The NBA postponed all three scheduled playoff games on Wednesday after Milwaukee Bucks players boycotted Game 5 of their series against the Orlando Magic in protest over the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Wisconsin.

Blake, a black man who was shot seven times in the back by police on Sunday, is recovering in hospital and is conscious, his family has said.

But he is paralysed from the waist down and his lawyers said it will take "a miracle" for him to walk again.

The Bucks, who are the top seed in the Eastern Conference and hold a 3-1 lead over the Magic, took to the court for pre-game warm-ups but then remained in the locker room when they were due to return. Milwaukee is in the state of Wisconsin, just 40 miles from Kenosha, where the shooting took place.

The Bucks' game with the Magic had been scheduled to tip-off at 4pm local time (9pm BST) in Orlando. Two more games had been scheduled for Wednesday, with the Oklahoma Thunder and Houston Rockets set to play at 6:30pm ET (11:30pm BST) with their series tied at 2-2, while the Los Angeles Lakers hold a 3-1 lead over the Portland Trail Blazers going into their Game 5 which had been set to start at 9pm ET (02:30am BST).

An hour or so after the Bucks-Magic game had been due to start, with reports rife the later games would also be boycotted by the players, the NBA released a statement announcing its decision to postpone all three games.

"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," the statement read.

NBA players are set to hold a meeting in Orlando on Wednesday evening to determine how they will proceed following the postponements, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported.

In the Western Conference, the sixth game of the Denver Nuggets-Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Clippers-Dallas Mavericks series remain scheduled for Thursday, along with the opening game of Boston Celtics-Toronto Raptors Eastern Conference second-round match-up.

Bucks owners Marc Lasry, Wes Edens and Jamie Dinan released a joint-statement in support of the team's players.

The Orlando Magic, who reportedly would have refused to accept a forfeit from the Bucks, released a statement in support of their playoff opponents.

Following the postponement of Wednesday night's games, all players were invited to attend a meeting to discuss their next steps.

The Athletic's Shams Charania reported the LA Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers players advocated boycotting the remainder of the season while players from most of the other teams wanted the postseason to continue.

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski subsequently reported the Clippers and Lakers stance "was considered more of a polling, than a final vote," according to sources.

A further players' meeting will take place on Thursday at 11am (4pm UK time).

The WNBA followed the NBA's lead by also postponing its three games on Wednesday.

Players from the Washington Mystics, who were scheduled to face the Atlanta Dream, arrived for their game in T-shirts with letters combining to spell Blake's name on the front, and seven marks each - representing bullet holes - on the back.

Afterwards players and staff knelt in protest with Blake's name spelt out across some of the players' chests.

Couldn’t be more proud to be an NBA fan

The Three teams that would have most likely won the Championship being such a big part of this is huge.