Much of the sports world shut down as the Milwaukee Bucks protested by not playing on Wednesday, but where do things currently stand?
The suspension of professional sports leagues in North America is an extremely rare occurrence — 9-11, natural disasters, the recent COVID-19 outbreak — and boycotts are unprecedented. On Wednesday, the unprecedented became a reality when the Milwaukee Bucks refused to take the floor for Game 5 of their first-round playoff series with the Orlando Magic. The Magic joined the Bucks in solidarity, before the NBA postponed the games for the teams scheduled to play later in the day: the Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets, Portland Trail Blazers and Los Angeles Lakers. Multiple WNBA, MLB and MLS games were postponed as well. The event that compelled the Bucks to act occurred in Kenosha, Wisconsin — just 31 miles from the team’s home — where, on Sunday, Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, was shot by police. The incident follows the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and more Black Americans by law enforcement. NBA players joined the protest movement in response. Several have spoken at rallies and made financial contributions in support of organizations advocating for social justice. As the NBA resumed play in July in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, players wore jerseys emblazoned with messages such as „Black Lives Matter“ and „Justice Now.“ The Bucks have direct experience with the issue of excessive force by law enforcement. On Jan.26,2018, Milwaukee forward Sterling Brown was driven to the ground and shocked with a Taser gun by an officer before being arrested after police cited him for a parking violation. Brown subsequently filed a federal civil rights suit claiming excessive force and wrongful arrest. He rejected a settlement from the city of Milwaukee. Three hours after Wednesday’s game was postponed, Bucks players released a statement asserting, „Despite the overwhelming plea for change, there has been no action, so our focus today cannot be on basketball.“ Soon after, NBA players from teams still competing in the postseason convened inside the bubble complex to discuss their next course of action. At a spirited meeting, players debated whether to continue the season and discussed the need for team owners to do more to affect change. NBA players have endured a lot to compete in the bubble. They’ve risked their health and left families behind. On Wednesday, they demanded a return on that investment in the form of societal change. — Kevin Arnovitz Why are the Bucks protesting? As representatives of Wisconsin — as the players referred to the team in their statement — the Bucks believe the state legislature in Madison has failed to enact sufficient measures to address criminal justice reform and police brutality. A statement from Bucks players called for the specific action to hold accountable the officers involved in the shooting of Blake. What’s the historic precedent for an NBA game protest? Monday through Friday, host Pablo Torre brings you an inside look at the most interesting stories at ESPN, as told by the top reporters and insiders on the planet. Listen This has not happened before. The LA Clippers and Golden State Warriors discussed boycotting Games 4 and 5 of their first-round playoff series in 2014 after Clippers owner Donald Sterling was caught on tape making racist remarks. Players on both teams were willing to boycott but ultimately decided not to when NBA commissioner Adam Silver banned Sterling for life. What does this mean for the three series postponed? Will this count as a forfeit? This is a fluid situation with more questions than answers. The NBA operations manual includes „failure to appear“ language for any team that elects to not play. The penalty is the forfeiture of the game and up to a $5 million fine. However, because all teams were in agreement not to play, the game forfeiture would not apply. The NBA said in its statement that all three games that were scheduled for Wednesday are postponed and not canceled. Will the players be penalized for boycotting? As mentioned above, the three games are postponed for now. Yet, technically, there could be financial implications for the players still in the playoffs, because they are failing to render services as required by the uniform player contract of the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement. As part of the June 20 restart memo agreed upon by the NBA and players‘ association, a player who refuses to play without proper and reasonable cause or excuse can see his salary reduced by 1/92.6. However, the number of games that can be docked is capped at 14 — including the seeding games and playoff games. For example, players on the Los Angeles Lakers have played 12 games and would lose only two games of pay in the scenario if the season is canceled. LeBron James would lose $667,178 out of his $37.4 million salary. All NBA players — not only those participating in the playoffs — are still seeing a 25% reduction in their paycheck, with or without a boycott. As of Aug.15, a total of $255 million has been collected. If the reductions continue through Nov.1, the deductions will increase to $438 million. Players are already in line to lose an additional $380 million in player escrow. In total, including the forfeiture of salary for games in Florida, player escrow and 25% reduction, the total loss of pay for James would exceed $8 million. What happens if the playoffs are canceled? Of course, there are bigger financial implications besides a loss of two games of pay. As ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported, the NBA and the players‘ association recently agreed to push back the 60-day window to terminate the collective bargaining agreement. The new Oct.15 deadline is supposed to give both sides ample time to negotiate the resetting of the future salary cap and luxury tax numbers based on revenue lost as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. „Extending is an easy call,“ NBPA executive director Michele Roberts told ESPN on Tuesday. „If everyone continues to be well-intentioned on how we deal with the economics of this virus, we’ll just make the appropriate adjustments, and there won’t be a need to terminate the CBA at all.“ What wasn’t mentioned by Roberts was the economic fallout if the season were canceled due to a player boycott. Will the playoffs continue? It’s unclear. On Wednesday night, players and coaches met in the bubble to discuss what comes next and whether the season should continue. Teams were polled about what their preference would be, and the Lakers and Clippers both voted to end the season, sources told Wojnarowski, though sources stressed there was no final decision on what would happen with the remainder of the season. But sources said it was unlikely there would be games played Thursday. — Arnovitz, Ramona Shelburne and Bobby Marks Four WNBA teams — the Washington Mystics, Atlanta Dream, Los Angeles Sparks and Minnesota Lynx — were already on site for their matchups when the first NBA game was postponed. They met for about an hour to make a decision on whether to play. The Mystics, who wore T-shirts with simulated bullet holes on the back as a protest against the Blake shooting, decided they wouldn’t play, and the other teams with games scheduled for Wednesday — including the Connecticut Sun and Phoenix Mercury — joined them. What’s the historic precedent for an WNBA games protest? The WNBA launched in 1997 and has not had a players‘ strike.
