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A day after one of the more powerful moments in professional sports history, the NBA has agreed to resume their 2020 playoffs in Orlando, Florida, according to Adrian Wojnarowski:
The NBA's players have decided to resume the playoffs, source tells ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 27, 2020
As you may know by now, the NBA held a meeting late Wednesday night that included countless players, including LeBron James, Andre Iguodala, Chris Paul, and Kyrie Irving to discuss possible next steps after the Milwaukee Bucks chose to boycott Game 5 of their playoff matchup against the Orlando Magic in the wake of the recent shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
The national reporting since this meeting took place has been somewhat all over the place — from members of both the Lakers and Clippers stating that they thought the season should immediately end, to impassioned pleas from players like Udonis Haslem and Jaylen Brown about how terminating the season could actually hurt their overall cause rather than uplift it.
Sources: Many players believed that leaving the bubble would take away their platform and felt that real change and awareness can come from working in Orlando on this big stage. Also many conversations about how this can be a ripple effect in sports.
— Taylor Rooks (@TaylorRooks) August 27, 2020
While various meetings will continue throughout the day on Thursday — meetings between owners, players, league officials, etc. — the consensus among NBA players appears to be to continue the playoffs, although at the time of this posting it was still unclear when games would actually resume.
Today's three playoff games will be postponed, source tells ESPN. Discussion underway on when teams will resume play. https://t.co/A2PazNKDhy
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 27, 2020
Pivoting slightly to the local franchises, the Minnesota Lynx released the following statement last night after the WNBA chose to postpone their games on Wednesday as well:
Official statement from the @minnesotalynx regarding the postponement of their game against the LA Sparks: pic.twitter.com/j0KNzCIfd6
— Canis Hoopus (@canishoopus) August 27, 2020
It is still also unclear what the next steps for the WNBA will be as well, with three more games scheduled for later today (the next game for the Lynx is scheduled for Friday against the Atlanta Dream).
Many players from both the Lynx and Timberwolves used their social media platforms on Wednesday night to voice their support for the latest movement by the NBA and WNBA, including Lexie Brown, Josh Okogie, and Karl-Anthony Towns:
my heart is heavy. but i find comfort in the fact that we stood up for something we believe in TOGETHER.
— Lexie Brown (@lexiekiah_4) August 27, 2020
— Josh Okogie (@CallMe_NonStop) August 26, 2020
Shoot Hoops, Not People. pic.twitter.com/loHk0XJsvo
— Karl-Anthony Towns (@KarlTowns) August 26, 2020
Regardless of what happens next, it has been a powerful moment (at least in my opinion) to see professional athletes across all major sports — NBA, WNBA, MLB, NFL, MLS — stand together in attempts to foster and promote real and necessary changes in our country. As always, we will continue to monitor the latest developments as they unfold and update this story as new information becomes available.