America-NBA players boycott the playoffs against systemic racism

NBA Players protesting against the shooting of another black man by police

NBA teams forced the league to postpone playoff games scheduled for Wednesday night after players agreed to boycott in response to the recent police shooting of a black man and racial injustice across the United States.

Teams are currently in the first round of playoffs for the league championship, but the Milwaukee Bucks players came to the decision to boycott Wednesday’s game after a 29 year old young man was shot seven times by a policeman over the weekend in Wisconsin.

“We fully support our players and the decision they made,” the Bucks owners said in a statement.

The owners said they did not know beforehand of the decision, but that they “wholeheartedly agreed” with the players.

“The only way to bring about change is to shine a light on the racial injustices that are happening in front of us,” the statement read.

Players across the league united and took the decision to follow suit and the NBA announced the postponement of the other two games scheduled for the night.

An assistant coach for the Oklahoma City Thunder, who are also in the playoffs, said the rest of the season was up in the air. “Season might be over,” the assistant told Al Arabiya English, adding that players were contemplating the move.

Black players make up the majority of NBA teams, but all players have been wearing messages on their warm-up jerseys and game jerseys to raise awareness about the racial injustice in the country.

Past and present players are all speaking out about the issue.

                                                        Web Desk