The three first-round NBA playoffs games that were supposed to be played yesterday were postponed when the players decided to sit them out in protest over racial injustice, their action coming the wake of the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Sunday. The protest was begun by the Milwaukee Bucks, who play about 40 miles from Kenosha, who refused to come out of the locker room for their game against the Orlando Magic.
After news spread about the NBA players sitting out their playoff games yesterday in protest of racial injustice, some players in other sports followed as well. All three scheduled WNBA games were postponed, three Major League Baseball games were called off, and five Major League Soccer matches were cancelled because players decided they would boycott them. The MLB games postponed were those between the Cincinnati Reds and Milwaukee Brewers, the Seattle Mariners and San Diego Padres, and the L.A. Dodgers and San Francisco Giants. All are set to be made up in doubleheaders today.