NBA Playoff Games Postponed Over Shooting in Wisconsin

By Jon Lafayette
last updated

Milwaukee Bucks start boycott as protest

Game Five of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2020 NBA Playoffs at AdventHealth Arena at ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex on August 26, 2020 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.
(Image credit: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

The NBA playoff game between the Milwaukee Bucks and Orlando Magic Wednesday afternoon was postponed as Buck’s players boycotted following the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisc.

The game had been scheduled to be televised by NBA TV and regional sports networks in the two cities.

(Image credit: NBA TV)

Players on the other teams scheduled to play Wednesday were discussing boycotting those games as well, according to published reports. Those games were set to appear on AT&T’s TNT network.

The NBA later announced that those games were postponed as well.

"The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association today announced that in light of the Milwaukee Bucks' decision not to take the floor today for game five against the Orlando Magic, today's three games--Bucks vs. Magic, Houston Rockets vs. Oklahoma City Thunder and Los Angeles Lakers vs. Portland Trailblazers--have been postponed. Game five of each series will be rescheduled," the league said in a statement.  

It was unclear when the league's playoffs would resume.

The Milwaukee Brewers and the Cincinnati Reds also decided not to play their Wednesday evening baseball game because of the Kenosha shooting.

Kenny Smith walks off the 'Inside the NBA' set

Kenny Smith walks off the 'Inside the NBA' set (Image credit: CNN)

In Orlando, where the NBA has been playing its games to avoid spreading COVID-19, the Magic players waited on the court until just before game time before returning to their locker room. 

Since returning, NBA players are wearing Black Lives Matter slogans on their uniforms to protest police violence against Black Americans as exemplified by the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25.

With no games on, TNT aired a special episode of Inside the NBA and Kenny Smith walked out.

"As a Black man and a former player, I think its best for me to support the player and not be here tonight and figure out what happens after that," Smith said.

"I respect that," responded host Ernie Johnson.

Jon Lafayette
Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.