(NEW YORK) — The NBA players have decided to resume the playoffs, though there will be no games on Thursday, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Games could resume as early as Friday, sources told Wojnarowski.
The Milwaukee Bucks decided on Wednesday to not take the court for Game 5 of their series in response to the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin, earlier this week.
Their decision had a ripple effect on the sports world — other NBA teams, WNBA teams, MLS teams, MLB teams and other athletes joined the work stoppage to take a stand against systemic racism and police brutality.
Blake was shot seven times in the back by police after leaning into his car and is paralyzed from the waist down, according to his family. The shooting has sparked protests, some of which have turned violent, in Kenosha over the last three nights. Two people were killed in shootings during protests on Tuesday. This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Wednesday’s sports events:
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
INTERLEAGUE Chi White Sox 10, Pittsburgh 3 Atlanta 5, NY Yankees 1 Atlanta 2, NY Yankees 1 Detroit 7, Chi Cubs 6 St. Louis 6 Kansas City 5 Seattle at San Diego (Postponed)
AMERICAN LEAGUE Toronto 9, Boston 1 Tampa Bay 4, Baltimore 3 Cleveland 6, Minnesota 3 Oakland 3, Texas 1 LA Angels at Houston (Postponed) NATIONAL LEAGUE Philadelphia 3, Washington 2 NY Mets 5, Miami 4 Colorado 8, Arizona 7 LA Dodgers at San Francisco (Postponed) Cincinnati at Milwaukee (Postponed)
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION PLAYOFFS Miami at Indiana (Unnecessary) (Miami wins 4-0) Orlando at Milwaukee (Postponed) (Milwaukee leads 3-1) Oklahoma City Houston (Postponed) (Series tied 2-2) Portland at LA Lakers (Postponed) (LA Leads 3-1) NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE PLAYOFFS Philadelphia 4, NY Islanders 3 (OT) (Series Tied 1-1) Tampa Bay 7, Boston 1 (Tampa Bay leads 2-1) Colorado 6, Dallas 4 (Dallas leads 2-1)
WOMEN’S NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION Washington at Atlanta (Postponed) Los Angeles at Minnesota (Postponed) Connecticut at Phoenix (Postponed) MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER Orlando City 3, Nashville 1 Atlanta at Montreal (Canceled) Atlanta at Miami (Canceled) Colorado at FC Dallas (Canceled) Los Angeles FC at Real Salt Lake (Canceled) Vancouver at Los Angeles FC (Canceled) Portland at San Jose (Canceled) Seattle at LA Galaxy (Canceled)
(MILWAUKEE) — The NBA announced Wednesday it chose to postpone all three playoff games scheduled for the day after the Milwaukee Bucks refused to play their Game 5 against the Orlando Magic and other teams appeared likely to follow suit.
The Bucks decided not to take the court for Game 5 of their series against the Orlando Magic over the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin, earlier this week, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
“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,” the NBA said in a statement. “Game 5 of each series will be rescheduled.”
The WNBA announced its three regular season games Wednesday — being held at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida — would also be postponed.
The MLB’s Milwaukee Brewers also announced they will not play their game against the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday, according to ESPN. The Seattle Mariners, the roster with the league’s highest number of Black players, also said it would not play against the San Diego Padres.
Blake, who was unarmed, was shot seven times in the back by police after leaning into his car and is paralyzed from the waist down, according to his family. The shooting has caused violent protests in Kenosha the last three nights. Two people were killed in shootings during protests on Tuesday night.
The Kenosha Police Department and FBI have said they are investigating the shooting.
“The past four months have shed a light on the ongoing racial injustices facing our African American communities,” Bucks guard Sterling Brown said, reading a statement after the team chose not to play. “Citizens around the country have used their voices and platforms to speak out against these wrongdoings. Over the last few days in our home state of Wisconsin, we’ve seen the horrendous video of Jacob Blake being shot in the back seven times by a police officer in Kenosha, and the additional shooting of protesters. Despite the overwhelming plea for change, there has been no action, so our focus today cannot be on basketball.”
The Bucks lead the series 3-1, and were scheduled to play Game 5 at 4 p.m. on Wednesday.
“Some things are bigger than basketball,” Bucks Senior Vice President Alex Lasry tweeted. “The stand taken today by the players and org shows that we’re fed up. Enough is enough. 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.”
The Magic said it supported not playing as well.
“Today we stand united with the NBA Office, the National Basketball Players Association, the Milwaukee Bucks and the rest of the league condemning bigotry, racial injustice and the unwarranted use of violence by police against people of color,” the team said in a statement.
The Lakers lead their series 3-1 over Portland and the Thunder and Rockets are tied at 2-2. Three games are also scheduled for Thursday. No announcement has been made on whether they will be played.
All three games Wednesday were to be played at the Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida, where the NBA is conducting its playoffs due to COVID-19.
Milwaukee is the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference in the NBA playoffs. They lost Game 1, but have won three straight games. The team features Giannis Antetokounmpo, the reigning NBA MVP, who was named defensive player of the year on Wednesday.
In an interview with The Undefeated, Bucks guard George Hill said, “We’re tired of the killings and the injustice.”
The Boston Celtics and Toronto Raptors, who open their second-round playoff series on Thursday, have also discussed a boycott, according to Raptors head coach Nick Nurse.
“Boycotting the game has come up for them as a way to try to demand a little more action,” Nurse said Wednesday, prior to the Bucks’ announced boycott. “That’s really what they want. I think there’s enough attention and not quite enough action, and that’s what I can sense from the discussions, is their disappointment. Like, ‘Man, how can we get something to change, like now?’ We need something to change, not just attention on the problem. We need a plan of action.”
Utah Jazz star Donovan Mitchell tweeted “WE DEMAND CHANGE! SALUTE @Bucks” in response to the shooting.
Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James tweeted similarly, adding an expletive and saying, “WE DEMAND CHANGE. SICK OF IT.”
ABC News’ Dan Linden and Karyn Rodus contributed to this report.
Scott Clarke / ESPN ImagesBy KENDALL KARSON, ABC News
(NEW YORK) — NBA superstar LeBron James is wading further into the fight over voter suppression, with his voting rights organization, More Than A Vote, launching a multimillion-dollar campaign to fortify the number of poll workers in vulnerable Black communities.
The group, which bands together James, other star athletes, state election officials and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, is partnering to draft young activists to work at polling locations for November’s general election across the southern and battleground states of Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, Florida, Ohio, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina and Texas.
“There are a lot of people who grew up in the inner city who are afraid to vote,” James, the star of the Los Angeles Lakers, told reporters last week while wearing a “More Than a Vote” T-shirt inside the NBA’s quarantined campus in Orlando, Florida. “We’re giving everyone the tools, outlets.”
Some of the states at the center of the effort were some of the sites of this year’s most chaotic primaries. Georgia was one of the largest states to struggle with running an election during the COVID-19 pandemic — but it is not alone. In early April, Wisconsin wrestled with similar challenges — and saw similar scenes of long lines and voter confusion — in what could be an unnerving preview of November if the virus persists.
In Georgia, hours-long lines were compounded by problems with voting equipment and poll worker shortages, particularly in Atlanta’s populous Fulton County.
In Wisconsin, the delays were due in part to nearly 60% of Wisconsin municipalities reporting a shortage of poll workers, and 111 jurisdictions reporting they could not staff even one polling place. Milwaukee, the state’s largest city, only had five polling locations, a fraction of the 180 that typically operate on election day.
The new initiative seeks to confront the shortage of election volunteers, particularly in communities of color. Atlanta is majority Black, according to U.S. Census data, and Milwaukee County is home to 69.4% of Wisconsin’s African American population, according to the most recent data cited by state’s Department of Health Services.
More than a Vote, which emerged in June amid demonstrations against the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery, will focus on recruiting younger poll workers in order to shield older poll workers from the threat of the virus, organizers said. The effort will utilize corporate partnerships and paid advertising on digital, radio and TV to cast a wide net for volunteers.
The campaign, which was first reported by the New York Times and confirmed to ABC News, seeks to elevate the battle over voter suppression using the cultural influence of dozens of athletes and artists, along with the NAACP’s resources, a spokesperson for the group said.
More than a Vote is also working to transform sports arenas left vacant by the pandemic into massive polling locations — a model that was used in Kentucky’s primary elections in June with relative success. So far they’ve joined forces with sports teams in Atlanta, Cleveland, Charlotte, Detroit, Los Angeles and Sacramento.
The nonprofit also committed in July to help pay outstanding fines and fees for former felons in Florida seeking to vote in November.
James’ political involvement previously included endorsing Hillary Clinton in 2016 and appearing at a campaign rally. But his decision to launch More Than a Vote is perhaps his most consequential foray into the political arena.
“We know how important November is, but more importantly even past November because it doesn’t stop,” James said last week. “We don’t want it to stop. We want to continue to put our foot on the gas and continue to learn and continue to educate ourselves, because when we don’t it trickles down to the next generation — because knowledge is power and when you don’t have knowledge the kids that come after us, they don’t have it and it trickles down from generation to generation to generation. So I want create mental wealth for generations to come.”
(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Tuesday’s sports events:
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
INTERLEAGUE Detroit 7, Chi Cubs 1 Chi White Sox 4, Pittsburgh 0 Kansas City 5, St. Louis 4 Seattle 8, San Diego 3
AMERICAN LEAGUE Houston 6, LA Angels 3 Tampa Bay 4, Baltimore 2 Cleveland 4, Minnesota 2 Boston 9, Toronto 7 LA Angels 12, Houston 5 Oakland 10, Texas 3 NATIONAL LEAGUE Miami 4, NY Mets 0 Miami 3, NY Mets 0 Philadelphia 8, Washington 3 Milwaukee 3, Cincinnati 2 Colorado 5, Arizona 4 San Francisco 10, LA Dodgers 8
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION PLAYOFFS Denver 117, Utah 107 (Utah leads 3-2) LA Clippers 154, Dallas 111 (LA leads 3-2) Brooklyn at Toronto (Unnecessary) Philadelphia at Boston (Unnecessary)
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE PLAYOFFS Tampa Bay 4, Boston 3 (OT) (Series tied 1-1) Vancouver 5, Vegas 2 (Series tied 1-1)
WOMEN’S NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION New York 101, Chicago 99 Las Vegas 96, Dallas 92 Seattle 87, Indiana 74
MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER New England 2, D.C. United 1 Philadelphia 1, New York 0 Chicago 3, Cincinnati 0 Montreal 2, Vancouver 0 Houston 5, Sporting Kansas City 2
cmannphoto/iStockBy CATHERINE THORBECKE, ABC News
