Damian Lillard Leaving Campus Due To Knee Injury
2:17pm: Lillard isn’t expected to require surgery on his injured knee, a source tells Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated (Twitter link).
7:00am: Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard is leaving the NBA’s Walt Disney World campus on Thursday to return to Portland, where he’ll undergo further examination of his injured right knee, the team announced (via Twitter).
Lillard was diagnosed with a right knee sprain after leaving Game 4 and had been ruled out for Game 5 before it was postponed. A Tuesday report suggested the All-Star guard was unlikely to return in the first round even if Portland had been able to force a Game 6 or Game 7, since he was unable to extend his right leg.
With the status of Game 5 still up in the air, it’s unclear how Lillard’s availability may be impacted. The NBA’s protocols state that players who leave the campus for medical exams or treatment aren’t necessarily subject to a full four days of quarantine if and when they return, but the Blazers star may not be healthy enough to play again this season anyway.
The team said in its statement that Lillard’s availability to return to the Orlando campus is “yet to be determined,” and that further updates will provided as necessary.
Lillard had been one of the NBA’s standout players since the season resumed in July. He earned bubble MVP honors by averaging 37.6 PPG and 9.6 APG on .497/.436/.888 shooting in the Blazers’ eight seeding games, then led the team to a win over Memphis in the Western Conference play-in game. Following his scorching-hot start this summer, Lillard has slowed down against the Lakers, in part due to health issues. Before injuring his knee in Game 4, he dislocated his left index finger in Game 2.
Players Decide To Resume Playoffs; Thursday’s Games To Be Postponed
The three NBA playoff games scheduled to take place on Thursday will be postponed, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter links). However, players have decided to resume the postseason and discussions are underway about when that will happen, Wojnarowski reports.
Games appear likely to resume as soon as Friday, per Shams Charania of The Athletic and Jeff Goodman of Stadium (Twitter links).
[UPDATE: NBA Hopes To Resume Postseason By Saturday]
According to Charania (Twitter link), NBA players who met today want to find “new and improved ways” to make social justice statements as they prepare to restart play.
Another meeting will take place today on the Orlando campus at 4:00 pm eastern time, with two players from each team participating, per Goodman and Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter links). The goal of that meeting will be to formulate a specific action plan to address racial injustice issues and to work out the logistics of restarting play, a source tells MacMahon (Twitter link).
A meeting of NBA owners and players is also set up for later today, Wojnarowski and Marc Spears of ESPN report (via Twitter). It sounds like that will be a separate meeting, though it figures to focus on similar issues.
“The bubble is about more than just crowning a champion,” one veteran player told Spears (Twitter link). “More so now than ever. It felt like the message was fading. Hopeful this can create a new level of activism and commitment from our owners, (the) league, (and) teams towards real change.”
After the Bucks decided not to play Game 5 of their first-round series against the Magic on Wednesday to protest social and racial injustices, the Rockets, Thunder, Lakers, and Trail Blazers followed suit, and the NBA postponed those games.
Today’s contests between the Nuggets and Jazz, Celtics and Raptors, and Mavericks and Clippers will also need to be rescheduled. Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press (Twitter link) hears that one “common-sense” scenario being considered is to simply push each game back by two days, from Wednesday to Friday and Thursday to Saturday.
Following Wednesday’s boycott, players gathered last night to discuss next steps and that meeting reportedly got “emotional.” Players from the Lakers and Clippers voted in favor of ending the season, while other teams voted to continue playing and some players – including CJ McCollum – cautioned against giving up the platform afforded by the NBA’s bubble.
After further discussions both last night and this morning, LeBron James and other prominent players changed their positions, agreeing that it’s in players’ best interest to finish the season, tweets Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.
Sources tell Charania that players today discussed the sacrifices they’ve made to reach this point of the 2019/20 season, as well as the sense of normalcy that will be gained when family members are allowed to enter the Orlando campus next week (Twitter link). Everyone was ultimately in agreement on restarting the season, one player told Goodman (Twitter link).
Optimism That Most NBA Players Want To Continue Season
Among key NBA players, there’s optimism that a majority of players want to continue the playoffs and complete the 2019/20 season, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). Sources tell Wojnarowski that several members of the Lakers, as well as players around the league, stayed up for hours after Wednesday night’s meeting to continue discussing the issues.
Players are scheduled to reconvene this morning at the same time that the league’s team owners hold a conference call to discuss the situation.
Doc Rivers and Chris Paul were among those who called upon players at last night’s meeting to come away with a plan of action and two or three “clear items” that the NBA can help them act upon, such as police reform and accountability or voter registration, according to an ESPN report.
Paul also wanted to make sure that players understand the financial ramifications of not finishing the 2019/20 season, which could be “cataclysmic,” one league executive told ESPN. NBPA leadership told players that they could lose about about 25-30% of their salaries for next season and would risk termination of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
According to ESPN’s report, CJ McCollum challenged players who wanted to end the season not to forfeit their platform by quietly heading back home, while Jaylen Brown and Andre Iguodala were among those who called for players to join the “front lines” of the fight for social justice if they stop the season.
While players would reportedly like to see team owners do more to address the issues the players are protesting, some owners have privately wondered what more they can do, according to ESPN. The league’s Board of Governors recently committed $300MM over the next 10 years to a foundation that aims to “create economic opportunity and empowerment in the Black community,” ESPN notes.
The players want the Board of Governors’ support in pushing for policy changes, according to Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Turning teams’ arenas into voting centers for this year’s election could be another actionable item for franchises. Several clubs have already announced their intentions to use their arenas as voting centers, with the Rockets becoming the latest to do so this morning.
Players Set To Meet Again On Thursday To Discuss Options
After an eventful day and an emotional meeting on Wednesday, NBA players at the Orlando campus have made plans to meet again on Thursday morning to further discuss their options for how to proceed with the postseason, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter).
According to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link), the players’ meeting is set for 11:00 am eastern time. That means it will coincide with the Board of Governors meeting happening at the same time.
As we relayed earlier tonight, while most teams voted to finish the 2019/20 season, Lakers and Clippers players voted to boycott the rest of the playoffs. Star forwards LeBron James and Kawhi Leonard were among the loudest voices on that front, tweets Brad Turner of The Los Angeles Times.
Since the results of that vote surfaced, reports have indicated that it was more of an informal polling and that no decisions have been finalized yet. However, those teams’ willingness to bow out of the rest of the season figures to put pressure on team owners as they determine their own plan of action on Thursday.
While a number of players hoped to leave Wednesday night’s meeting with a plan of action for next steps following the boycott of the day’s playoff games, the meeting “turned dysfunctional” after the coaches left, a source tells Pompey (Twitter link). One player tells Jeff Goodman of Stadium that there were “a lot of emotions in the meeting rather than coming up with a solution,” while another described it as “heated” (Twitter links).
“I think tomorrow will be better,” the first player said to Goodman. “I’m confident we will play, but tomorrow is a big meeting.”
Lakers, Clippers Vote To Boycott Season; Others Vote To Continue
The Lakers and Clippers voted tonight to boycott the remainder of the 2019/20 NBA season, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter links). According to Charania, the rest of the teams in the NBA’s Orlando bubble voted to continue playing. The meeting has now concluded, tweets Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.
The Lakers and Clippers were the first two teams to exit the meeting after registering their votes, per Haynes (Twitter link). According to David Aldridge of The Athletic (Twitter link), the meeting ended “ugly” and there’s uncertainty about what will happen on Thursday.
The NBPA will be present on the league’s Board of Governors call on Thursday morning, Aldridge adds. That call will take place at 11:00 am eastern time, tweets Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports.
Sources tell Charania (Twitter link) that Heat veteran Udonis Haslem spoke during tonight’s meeting and essentially said that it would be impossible for the season to continue without the top two teams in the West. However, tonight’s vote was considered “more of a polling” than a final decision, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who tweets that the resumption of the postseason remains up in the air.
Wojnarowski adds (via Twitter) that the discussion about whether to continue the season will extend into tomorrow, but for now it seems unlikely that that Thursday’s three postseason games will be played as scheduled.
“Everyone is still too emotional,” a high-ranking source told Woj. “There needs to be more time to come together on this.”
According to both Charania and Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe (Twitter links), LeBron James was vocal in calling out the league’s team owners, indicating that he wants them to be more involved and take action on the social justice issues being highlighted by the players. Washburn adds that James wants commissioner Adam Silver to do more as well, with some players expressing annoyance that Silver has been “noticeably absent” for the majority of the summer restart.
While the East’s top two teams apparently didn’t vote to boycott the rest of the season, the Bucks and Raptors provided “some of the strongest voices” on the idea of shutting down the bubble, according to Chris Mannix of SI.com (Twitter link).
The Raptors were the first team to publicly talk about a boycott earlier this week, while the Bucks were the first team to do so earlier today. Charania reports (via Twitter) that there was some frustration expressed in the meeting tonight by those who felt blindsided by Milwaukee’s walk-out plan.
If the 2019/20 season isn’t completed, it would have a serious impact on the NBA’s revenues and salary cap and would potentially blow up the league’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. According to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link), Trail Blazers guard CJ McCollum asked for a financial breakdown of the potential effect on the CBA. Players have been told that lost revenue would be between 15-35% if they stop playing and go home tomorrow, a source tells Pompey.
Besides the financial impact of ending the season, some of the other themes of the meeting were Chris Paul expressed a desire for player unity, McCollum expressing a need for a plan of action, and Clippers head coach Doc Rivers talking about using the NBA’s platform to push voting and police accountability (Twitter link via Wojnarowski).
Latest On NBA Players’ Discussions
Following the decision not to play today’s three postseason games, NBA players are meeting on Wednesday night to discuss next steps, and ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports (via Twitter) that those talks are centering on whether to continue the playoffs or end the season.
So far, according to Wojnarowski, there appears to be momentum for players to sit out the three postseason contests scheduled to take place on Thursday, but nothing has been decided yet.
NBPA president Chris Paul, NBPA vice president Andre Iguodala, 17-year veteran Kyle Korver, and Clippers head coach Doc Rivers are among those who have spoken at tonight’s meeting, per Wojnarowski (via Twitter). The meeting is ongoing, with coaches having just been asked to step out of the room as players meet privately, according to Zach Lowe of ESPN (Twitter link).
Multiple reports this evening have suggested that a number of players are in favor of completing the 2019/20 season. However, Chris Mannix of SI.com (Twitter link) has heard a few players express tonight that sitting out one game is “meaningless” and merely symbolic.
Players are demanding an action plan and want to see something from NBA team owners, tweets Mannix. If those team owners don’t step up and help address issues such as voting and police reform, there’s a sense that the season will be in jeopardy, Mannix adds (via Twitter).
As Ramona Shelburne of ESPN relays (via Twitter), Bucks players spoke earlier today to Wisconsin lieutenant governor Mandela Barnes, who said the most important thing they could push for is “action at every level of government.”
“They just wanted to know what they could do,” Barnes said (Twitter link via Shelburne). “They wanted something tangible that they could do in the short- and long-term. They wanted the walkout to be step one.”
NBA Schedules Board Of Governors Meeting For Thursday
The NBA has scheduled a special Board of Governors meeting for Thursday morning, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).
While Woj hasn’t provided any additional details, it’s safe to assume that NBA team owners will be discussing next steps after players boycotted the three playoff games on Wednesday. Players and coaches in Orlando are meeting on Wednesday night to discuss their plan of action, so the direction of Thursday’s meeting may be dictated in large part by decisions made tonight.
Despite speculation from some players that the rest of the 2019/20 season is in jeopardy, a “sizable” number of players are reportedly advocating to complete the season. Wojnarowski reports (via Twitter) that there’s also a sentiment within the Bucks – the team that initiated today’s boycotts – that they want to continue playing in Orlando.
Earlier this evening, Bucks players called for the Wisconsin State Legislature to reconvene to address “issues of police accountability, brutality, and criminal justice reform.” If players ultimately decide to complete the season, they may first call for similar action from other state governments.
If players decide against finishing the season, it would create major complications related to the salary cap and Collective Bargaining Agreement going forward, as John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 tweets.
Bucks Co-Owners, Players Issue Statements
Bucks co-owners Marc Lasry, Wes Edens, and Jamie Dinan have put out a statement in response to their players’ decision not to play Game 5 of their first-round series against Orlando on Wednesday. Within the statement, the Bucks co-owners said they “fully support” the players’ decision.
“Although we did not know beforehand, we would have wholeheartedly agreed with them,” Lasry, Edens, and Dinan said. “The only way to bring about change is to shine a light on the racial injustices that are happening in front of us. Our players have done that and we will continue to stand alongside them and demand accountability and change.”
In addition to the Bucks, ownership groups of other teams that were scheduled to play have put out statements of their own. The Magic‘s team owners said they “stand united” with the Bucks and the rest of the league in “condemning bigotry, racial injustices, and the unwarranted use of violence by police against people of color.” Lakers owner Jeanie Buss said she stands behind the players “today and always” (Twitter link).
All of today’s games were ultimately postponed, but it was the Bucks’ decision to boycott that created a domino effect. The Bucks’ efforts to raise awareness and enact change resulted in the team getting on a conference call with Wisconsin attorney general Josh Kaul and lieutenant governor Mandela Barnes this evening, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).
Milwaukee players also appeared outside their locker room tonight, where Sterling Brown and George Hill read a prepared statement to media members. Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link) provided video of that statement.
“We are calling for justice for Jacob Blake and demand the officers be held accountable,” Hill said. “For this to occur, it is imperative for the Wisconsin State Legislature to reconvene after months of inaction and take up meaningful measures to address issues of police accountability, brutality, and criminal justice reform.”
Players at the Orlando campus are expected to meet within the next hour to discuss potential next steps. According to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link), coaches in the bubble have also been invited to attend that meeting. NBPA executive director Michele Roberts will also be in attendance, tweets John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7.
Rest Of NBA Season In Jeopardy?
5:15pm: A “sizable” number of players are advocating to finish the season since they’ve made sacrifices to be at the bubble and they believe the NBA platform is a valuable resources, reports Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link).
“We’re already here,” one star player said to Haynes (Twitter link). “Let’s finish what we started.”
5:09pm: In the wake of today’s player boycotts, the rest of the 2019/20 NBA season “is in jeopardy,” a veteran player tells Chris Mannix of SI.com (Twitter link).
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski passes along the same quote (via Twitter), though it’s not clear if it came from the same veteran player or a different one. Meanwhile, when asked if the season will continue, one player who spoke to Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press (Twitter link) replied, “I’ve heard yes and I’ve heard no.”
As Wojnarowski writes, emotions in Orlando are “raw,” with players already worn out by the bubble environment and fed up with social and racial injustices prior to the Jacob Blake shooting.
Players are meeting on campus tonight at 8:00 pm eastern time to discuss next steps, and every player is invited to attend that meeting, sources tell Wojnarowski and Zach Lowe (Twitter link). That discussion will go a long way toward determining the fate of the rest of the season, according to Wojnarowski (Twitter link), who adds that talks about postponing Thursday’s three games are ongoing.
For more details on today’s boycotts, be sure to check out our previous stories from this afternoon.
NBA Says Wednesday’s Games Will Be Rescheduled; Players To Discuss Next Steps
The NBA has announced in a press release that all three Game Fives scheduled to take place on Wednesday have been postponed and will be rescheduled.
Bucks players led a boycott of this afternoon’s game against the Magic, with the Thunder, Rockets, Trail Blazers, and Lakers quickly deciding to follow suit. The protests stem from a desire to raise awareness of social and racial injustices and enact change, and come in response to the recent police shooting of Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter), the NBA, team owners, and front offices didn’t see today’s wave of player boycotts coming — as a few hours ago, they expected all of today’s games to take place.
NBA players have called a meeting for Wednesday night in Orlando to discuss and determine potential next steps, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
As Chris Mannix of SI.com notes (via Twitter), some teams – including the Raptors – have discussed the possibility of leaving the bubble altogether. Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe (Twitter link) hears that the Raptors and Celtics are leaning toward not playing Game 1 of their second-round series on Thursday.