WNBA players refuse to play Wednesday
Source: LA Times
By THUC NHI NGUYEN STAFF WRITER
AUG. 26, 2020 4:50 PM (Pacific Time)
Hours after the Milwaukee Bucks refused to participate in its playoff game against the Orlando Magic on Wednesday in response to the police shooting of Jacob Blake, prompting the postponement of three NBA playoff games, WNBA players followed suit, choosing a walkout rather than playing the three scheduled games.
The Sparks were scheduled to play the Minnesota Lynx on Wednesday at 5 p.m. PDT, the second game of the three-game slate. Before their 4 p.m. PDT game against the Atlanta Dream, the reigning WNBA champion Washington Mystics players walked into the arena wearing white T-shirts spelling out Jacob Blake’s name on the front. Each shirt showed seven bloody bullet holes in the back, symbolizing the number of times Blake was shot by police.
The Sparks, Lynx, Mystics and Dream, the four teams that had arrived to the arena early, gathered on the court and discussed whether they would play games. Briefly, it seemed that the games would happen; ESPN’s Holly Rowe reported that players had decided to play while honoring Blake by putting the ball down during the seventh minute of each quarter. But the players continued to huddle and instead chose to lock arms, kneel and raise a fist with their coaches and support staffs on the court.
The WNBA has made social justice a primary focus of its season, from honoring victims of police brutality to advocating on behalf of voting. Players wear Breonna Taylor’s name on their jerseys after the 26-year-old EMT was shot in her home by police who were acting on a no-knock order. They held a conference call with Michelle Cusseaux’s mother, Frances Garrett, after Cusseaux was killed in 2014 by police who were responding to a mental wellness check.
Read more: https://www.latimes.com/sports/story/2020-08-26/wnba-postponed
Some baseball teams have refused to play tonight, too.
This is a historic moment in American sports and race relations.
(PS - sorry, LA Times is a pay site!)
= new reply since forum marked as read
