Toronto Raptors have discussed boycotting games in wake of the Jacob Blake shooting?

This is pretty much it.

Walking out does nothing. Rather use the resources you have, don't walk out on a paycheck, and if you feel that strongly, use whatever money you have to donate to charities that are going to help the cause. Speak louder, get involved in local and state politics. You can't get change from walking away from the game, it won't mean much in the grand scheme of things.

It's hard to be an activist because it takes dedication.

I wonder what Kyrie is doing. He was the one that spoke up initially, what has he done while he's had this time off. Has he engaged local politicians? Has he organized community outreach to educate on the importance of voting?

 

Jayson Tatum: “If we sit out a game or rest of the playoffs we understand the impact that’ll have. Everyone would talk about it... we’re more than just basketball players, we’re people. We have raw emotions.”

Tatum did mention a few guys have considered returning home. For himself, Tatum repeatedly mentioned the difficulty of being in isolation.

Tatum did mention “other guys on other teams” have discussed possibly boycotting their playoff games.

Tatum: “Basketball gives us a unique platform to use. Obviously we have a lot of influence on people in what we do, what we say and what we promote. We know the impact that we have and we try to figure out the best way to use that.”

Tatum: “It’s tough, we’re in a bubble, we can’t leave. As much as we would love to go back to our communities and stand with our people. We’re in this bubble, isolated from everybody else. I think that is very frustrating and a lot of players have voiced that.”

Tatum on being home for George Floyd vs. in a bubble for Jacob Blake: “Guys were able to be on front lines. Be seen, be in their communities and neighborhoods. Right now it’s tough because we’re kinda stuck between the decision of some people can go home...”

Tatum: “How many points we score, games we win, that sh*t don’t matter. Being a Black man in America is more important than what I’m doing on the basketball court. Using my platform, my voice, to create conversation and change is more important than anything I can do out there.”

 

I'm not sure what the endgame is here. Who's mind does this change? People won't be talking more about the shooting - if anything, they'll be talking about basketball being cancelled and what this means for the NBA, whether players are selfish, if the league is destroying itself, etc. None of that furthers the cause. I'm not sure what this accomplishes except alienate more people to the underlying message.

 

It feels like virtue signaling and I hate to use that word because I know it's been used to bludgeon good causes and conversations but that's what it is unless they are walking out of the bubble.

Silver will come out today and make a statement of full support for this action and they will play this useless Buck-Magic game (that no one wanted to see anyways) and they'll play it tomorrow or whenever.

It's not like the officer that shot Blake thought "I better not shoot this man or the NBA players might boycott!" he was poorly trained, that's the issue.

What CP3 did by threatening to boycott the Clippers game, now that was impactful because the players were saying "We're not playing for a racist owner." and that was something the NBA could fix.

The NBA can't do anything about police brutality and criminal justice, all it can do is support one side or the other, which it has clearly done. It has raised as much awareness as possible.

 

This is also pretty crappy of the Bucks to not notify the NBA. The NBA has a league has bent over backwards to involve players and support them all throughout this and this is pretty shitty to do without even telling anyone. It's one thing if it were some uncaring organization or one with a bad history between players and owners (NFL, MLB, etc), but the NBA is on their side and they are screwing them over.

 

This ain’t gonna change **** ...

Police reform or bust..

 

Vote.

 

Only way to make real change.. I always vote. .

 

Why do they boycott the NBA when the NBA is trying so hard to accommodate the BLM movement?

 

Toronto trying to hold on to that title belt an extra year.

 

I don't agree. What's the point of a protester going out and holding up a sign? What good does that do?

It's about making a statement that things need to change. Yes, the NBA and the players have been trying to do that with the BLM signs and the custom t-shirts and jersey messaging. But they feel that they need to go one step further given what happened and how it has impacted them, and I fully get that.

 

That's the thing though for me.

People have been protesting this issue forever now, years now, everyone knows about it.

The reason nothing changes andI'll be frank here, is because the people in power aren't going to change it. People spend their energy protesting when they should be researching politicians that support their ideals and voting for these people to win seats in congress, senate seats, mayorships, etc etc etc

They are protesting to a mostly GOP run government that is ignoring them because their base (the GOPs base) doesn't agree with their reform.

If they protest and don't vote and the GOP runs most of the government then...nothing will change, because the GOP will see and understand that these people hold no power and can be safely ignored. I just want all these people to put their energy now into things that can get stuff changed.

 

If the owners were really on their side then they would put their $$ and influence behind police reform, similar to how they do when they want a tax break. I think the NBA has done a great job of not challenging them on using their platforms to express themselves, but I'm not seeing the league or owners out there really trying to enact change.

 

What do we really know about the 30 NBA owners and what they are individually doing, though? Obviously someone like the Rockets owner is likely not doing much on this issue as he's a big Trump guy. But the Bucks owner is at the forefront of a lot of racial issues and liberal political change in general. I only learned that today. I have no idea what all the other owners might do behind the scenes, because they aren't really public figures.

But ultimately, the owners have been supportive - especially compared to most other industries. If you want them as allies in full force, involve them in the process as allies instead of making them the enemies.

 

Why so emotional, though? This honestly feels like an adult temper tantrum.

I remember back in the 60s (wasn't alive, but read about this) players at the All-Star game were willing to sit the game out if they didn't receive something that resembled free-agency. It was the first time the NBA would be broadcast nationally so they had some leverage in the situation. The owners caved to something that would one day lead to modern free-agency. This time the players have ZERO leverage over the law enforcement agency involved in Jacob Blake's shooting.

 

We know plenty when the league is pushing for legislation, local or national, that benefits the league. Put that same energy behind your players.

The owners have been supportive in letting their players utilize their platforms. The owners don't seem that supportive in really putting things into action to enact change, and they have the $$ and clout to do so.