The Milwaukee Bucks boycotted Game 5 of their first-round playoff series with the Orlando Magic on Wednesday, taking a stand against racial injustice and setting off a chain reaction in the NBA, WNBA, MLB and MLS.
“I thought it was amazing,” Clippers radio voice Noah Eagle said on The Zach Gelb Show. “I really did. I felt like this is a benchmark moment. This is a historic moment in sports, in the world. It’s one of those where, I think for years to come, people are going to be able to say, ‘Where were you when the Bucks boycotted and set off the domino reaction?’ We’re seeing it through the NBA and Major League Baseball. We’ll see how far it stretches.”
The Bucks are protesting the shooting of Jacob Blake, an unarmed Black man who was shot by police seven times in Kenosha, Wis., on Sunday.
“The NBA, their slogan [is], ‘Where Amazing Happens.’ This [protest is] amazing,” Eagle said. “This is completely new territory we’ve never seen before. That a team that is one of the frontrunners to win the NBA championship this year, that has put in tireless hours of work to get to that one goal they have set for themselves. Giannis Antetokounmpo is one of the most driven players, if not the most driven player, in the NBA. In talking to a lot of his former teammates, they say that his mentality is stronger and crazier than anybody else they’ve been around. And for somebody like that to potentially risk just dropping a playoff game, it speaks volumes to these players, what they believe in and the stance they’re trying to take, which has been really cool to see.”
The NBA postponed all three games that were scheduled to be played Wednesday. It remains to be seen what the NBA will do regarding Thursday and when – or if – playoff basketball will resume.
“My gut would tell me that we will have a conclusion of the season, but I would also say there’s a very good chance the other way, that this could be the end,” Eagle said. “The reason I sway in that direction is just because of the sacrifices that these guys have already had to make in the bubble. They’ve been there for months. They’ve been there away from their friends and families. A lot of the teams who [felt] they were going to advance – and some of which already did in the Eastern Conference – have invited their close friends, families, loved ones to the bubble, and they’ve been quarantining already.
“So you’ve got people outside that are getting ready to enter the bubble in the next week,” Eagle continued. “You’ve got players who have been in solitaire and just kind of figuring it out and finding their way through this brand-new experiment and experience, and it’s been so successful in terms of the COVID aspect of it.”
NBA players met Wednesday night to discuss the path forward.
“My guess is that it’s going to be pretty split down the middle of the decision of those who want to stay and those who want to go,” Eagle said. “And it is worth noting every player can make a decision for themselves. So if the collective group decides we want to continue playing, that doesn’t mean that every single person has to stay. They can continuously opt out as this experience goes on. But if I had to guess, I think there will be enough support in favor of continuing to play when the time is right – and I think that’s the key. We don’t know exactly when that is. We don’t know exactly what needs to happen in terms of this is what we’re looking for so we can return to play. But my guess, my gut feeling, would be that we will have a champion at some point this season.”