Following a Thursday morning meeting that was held after three postseason games were postponed on Wednesday in the wake of the shooting of Jacob Blake, NBA players have decided to resume the playoffs at some point in the next few days.
As a condition of restarting the postseason, players want to find “new and improved ways to make social justice statements.”
Families coming into the bubble soon also reportedly played a role in the players opting to resume the season.
An additional meeting will be held between two players from each team and NBA owners to help formulate action plans to address racial injustice as well as iron out the logistics of restarting the playoffs, a source told ESPN.
The three games that were scheduled for Thursday will not take place, but playoff games from inside the NBA bubble in Florida could resume as soon as Friday and, failing that, there is expected to be a return to the court over the weekend.
Earlier Thursday, it certainly seemed as if the playoffs restarting was far from a certainty as players on the Lakers and Clippers, most notably LeBron James and Kawhi Leonard, reportedly did not want to return to playing.
Based on a tweet James put up shortly after it was announced the season would be restarting, it seems that if he does play, he’ll be using his platform to help encourage fans to get out and vote in November.
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