The Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday afternoon made the historic decision to boycott their game with the Orlando Magic as a protest against the shooting of an unarmed Black man, Jacob Blake, in the back by Kenosha police officers on Sunday.
With the Magic already on the court warning up, Bucks players refused to leave their locker room for the 4 p.m. start time, and stayed there.
“We shouldn’t be playing with all that’s going on. We’re down here for money purposes only,” Bucks guard George Hill had told the Undefeated on Monday. “These games are only overshadowing what is really going on.”
As of this writing there have been no official statements from the Bucks, Magic or NBA. Though this tweet by Bucks Vice President of Strategic Marketing Alex Lasry indicates that Bucks management will stand with the players:
UPDATE: The Houston Rockets and OKC Thunder have also jointly boycotted their Wednesday game.
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This article appears in Aug 19-25, 2020.