Players boycott games | Playoffs resume Saturday

[IamDougieFresh]

NBA players reportedly decided to resume the postseason at the Walt Disney World Resort following their protest in the wake of the police shooting of Jacob Blake.

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported players decided during a meeting Thursday to continue the playoffs, but discussions are ongoing about when games will resume. 

Le$ron

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Weakest boycott of all time?

[Hypermav]

Emotions give way to reality.

[fifteenth]

I think that the players were deeply troubled by the shooting. I think that the Bucks felt it most accutely because it was in their backyard. I think, also, that the Bucks players felt some responsibility, both because it happened in their backyard and because they, as prodominately black men, feel some responsibility to use their platform to say things that won't be heard when other folks in the African American community say them. 

The Bucks decided not to play the game for those reasons. Then they reached out to the Attorney General to ask out what they could do and how they could help. 

I don't think any of that is weak.

[omahen]

Weakest boycott of all time?

Nah, the only decision that makes sense. Yesterday was a mistake.

[IamDougieFresh]

I think that the players were deeply troubled by the shooting. I think that the Bucks felt it most accutely because it was in their backyard. I think, also, that the Bucks players felt some responsibility, both because it happened in their backyard and because they, as prodominately black men, feel some responsibility to use their platform to say things that won't be heard when other folks in the African American community say them. 

The Bucks decided not to play the game for those reasons. Then they reached out to the Attorney General to ask out what they could do and how they could help. 

I don't think any of that is weak.

2 day boycott of playing games in a league that supports you 100% and is willing to lose millions to do so is weak as hell mate. Mavs should extend their boycott (until KP is ready).

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Weakest boycott of all time?

Nah, the only decision that makes sense. Yesterday was a mistake.

After the bucks decided not to play the rest of the league was stuck deciding between virtue signaling and $/fake championship aspirations

[omahen]

I don't think any of that is weak.

Not weak, but rushed, even naive perhaps. Not because of the money involved, but because not everythijng was considered surrounding the case. A more thoughfull approach would be more in place for people, who are considered opinion makers, leaders if you want. World is not black and white, but mostly grey.

[fifteenth]

2 day boycott of playing games in a league that supports you 100% and is willing to lose millions to do so is weak as hell mate. Mavs should extend their boycott (until KP is ready).

You're one of my favorite posters to read, so hope you don't get bent out of shape by me disagreeing with you, but I do. You saying "it's weak" is just an opinion, and I don't share it. I don't think those guys were thinking about whether they were being strong or weak. It's really irrelevant. They were legitimately upset and thinking about what they can do. Look, if you didn't agree with them not playing the game anyway, why then develop the opinion that they should have just boycotted the whole playoffs? That seems so arbitrary. 

Also, that term "virtue signaling" seems like a fake force field against someone saying "this is right" or "this is wrong". Fact is, though, that some things are right and some things are wrong. I've seen that around the interwebs a few times and it just seems like a silly conversation ender. 

[omahen]

I think that the players were deeply troubled by the shooting

Media reports should not be just taken by face value as they are rarely reporting, but more often pushing some agenda.

[fifteenth]

Media reports should not be just taken by face value as they are rarely reporting, but more often pushing some agenda.

So you've said many, many times over the last few pages. None the less, a black man was shot 7 times in the back, and whether you understand it or not, that's  an immediate gut punch to much of the country, and especially to folks in the African American community. 

omahen, do you have any African American friends? If not, you might ask Dahlsim to share with you some about the experience of black Americans. 

It seems like you want everyone to withhold reaction until an investigation is completed. I don't think that's reasonable. People can have immediate reactions and they can have different thoughts and reactions as more info comes out. Last night you seemed to be sugggesting that the players' reaction was tantamount to asking for an immediate sentencing of the officer. That's a straw man of the highest order, my friend.

If as the investigation continues we find out that Jacob Blake deserved to be shot 7 times in the back, and that there was no other way to police that situation, then maybe folks will think differently then they did when the shooting first happened.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cz6VIK5rbI

[IamDougieFresh]

You're one of my favorite posters to read

[omahen]

If as the investigation continues we find out that Jacob Blake deserved to be shot 7 times in the back, and that there was no other way to police that situation, then maybe folks will think differently then they did when the shooting first happened.

And I am sure everyone will be issuing apologies to cops involved, Kenosha people that sustained damage in the riots and so on. This is why rush reactions have to be avoided, they don't bring anything good. Especially rush reactions from opinion makers. 

Did you see what LeBron said?: "You have no idea how that cop left the house that day....Or maybe he just left the house saying that today is going to be the end for one of these Black people. That’s what it feels like." Do you realize how incredibly unfair is that statement? There are far more circumstances provided, that perhaps Jacob was reaching for a gun in his car and cop was just affraid. That perhaps Jacob had a knife and cops were affraid to tackle him. 

People like LeBron have to step back and be smarter in things like this.

a black man was shot 7 times in the back

Which was what media gave you. Just a little bit more of a research would have shown that he MIGHT have: an arrest warrant pending, history of violent crimes, resisted arrest, possibly carried knife, possibly had a weapon in a car, tazers didn't work, ignored police orders and he was reaching in a car to get something. How can you say the story is so simple as black man was shot 7 times in the back. Can't you see any possible scenario cops did what they possibly could and were just affraid. Why do you even have to bring race in this specific case? I repeat - world is not black and white. 

an immediate gut punch to much of the country

Quickly browsing through The Athletic forum, where there was a lot of comments, there are also a lot of people with a similar opinion to mine. I would say opinions are roughly divided half-half. All racists?

omahen, do you have any African American friends?

No, because there are basically no Black people in our country. We have other minorities though. I am sure there are innocent people suffering. Still this is not an excuse for the reactions.

Last night you seemed to be sugggesting that the players' reaction was tantamount to asking for an immediate sentencing of the officer.

Exactly, and I still claim that. Just look at the twits - they basically passed judgement and demanded justice, decided which of the possible versions of the event happened. They want justice for Jacob. Is he not given justice? Are the cops involved not investigated? Did THE SYSTEM at any point indicate that everything is ok with what went on?

It seems like you want everyone to withhold reaction until an investigation is completed. I don't think that's reasonable.

Not from everyone, but from influencers like NBA players. And it is totally reasonable. NBA players are PR experts. How many emotional outbursts do you see immediately after games, when they are full of emotions? Why didn't we see Luka blazing fire and throw public insults against refs and Morris after a loss? It happens, of course, but rarely. Mostly they are repeating trained PR statements. So one would think, they are able to control their emotions and what they publicly say in other circumstances too. Because they are accountable for their reactions. No one but cops is held accountable for their reactions in this last shooting incident.

What they think and say in their private conversations, is of course a totally different thing.

[IamDougieFresh]

I think something players could use their platform for is trying to make body cameras mandatory for all police nationwide.

[StepBackJay]

So my issue with these viral things is can we get at least some basic facts around what happened before we jump to "racist cops" as the conclusion and start burning down buildings? Getting shot 7 times in the back seems excessive to me but I would like to know a little bit more.

This report released today adds a little bit more information:
https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/27/us/jacob-...index.html

Officers arrived to the scene and attempted to arrest Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, and used a Taser in a failed attempt to stop him, the DCI said. Blake walked around his vehicle, "opened the driver's side door, and leaned forward," the agency said.

Kenosha Police officer Rusten Sheskey, who has been with the department for seven years, then fired seven times into Blake's back, the agency said. No other officer fired their weapon.

The agency said Blake admitted he had a knife in his possession, and law enforcement agents said they recovered a knife from the driver's side floorboard of Blake's vehicle.

So again I know people want to make up their minds instantly and not change it no matter what details come later but here we have a few details like a) arrest b) taser c) knife in the driver's side floorboard, which was the door he opened. This is in addition to knowing that the cops were ordering him to stop and he was ignoring them. 

So again does resisting arrest and attempting to either get away in a car or grab a knife mean you deserve to get shot 7 times? I don't know but I am pretty sure resisting arrest increases your odds of getting injured or killed. I would like to know more ab police protocol in these type of situations.

Finally, my issue with all these stories is that there is really little thought given to the full context of what happened. Can you call something disturbing without immediately jumping to a final conclusion? It's seems to me that the latter happens with no due process. This isn't helping the conversion imo.

[fifteenth]

If as the investigation continues we find out that Jacob Blake deserved to be shot 7 times in the back, and that there was no other way to police that situation, then maybe folks will think differently then they did when the shooting first happened.

And I am sure everyone will be issuing apologies to cops involved, Kenosha people that sustained damage in the riots and so on. This is why rush reactions have to be avoided, they don't bring anything good. Especially rush reactions from opinion makers. 

Did you see what LeBron said?: "You have no idea how that cop left the house that day....Or maybe he just left the house saying that today is going to be the end for one of these Black people. That’s what it feels like." Do you realize how incredibly unfair is that statement? There are far more circumstances provided, that perhaps Jacob was reaching for a gun in his car and cop was just affraid. That perhaps Jacob had a knife and cops were affraid to tackle him. 

People like LeBron have to step back and be smarter in things like this.

a black man was shot 7 times in the back

Which was what media gave you. Just a little bit more of a research would have shown that he MIGHT have: an arrest warrant pending, history of violent crimes, resisted arrest, possibly carried knife, possibly had a weapon in a car, tazers didn't work, ignored police orders and he was reaching in a car to get something. How can you say the story is so simple as black man was shot 7 times in the back. Can't you see any possible scenario cops did what they possibly could and were just affraid. Why do you even have to bring race in this specific case? I repeat - world is not black and white. 

an immediate gut punch to much of the country

Quickly browsing through The Athletic forum, where there was a lot of comments, there are also a lot of people with a similar opinion to mine. I would say opinions are roughly divided half-half. All racists?

omahen, do you have any African American friends?

No, because there are basically no Black people in our country. We have other minorities though. I am sure there are innocent people suffering. Still this is not an excuse for the reactions.

Last night you seemed to be sugggesting that the players' reaction was tantamount to asking for an immediate sentencing of the officer.

Exactly, and I still claim that. Just look at the twits - they basically passed judgement and demanded justice, decided which of the possible versions of the event happened. They want justice for Jacob. Is he not given justice? Are the cops involved not investigated? Did THE SYSTEM at any point indicate that everything is ok with what went on?

It seems like you want everyone to withhold reaction until an investigation is completed. I don't think that's reasonable.

Not from everyone, but from influencers like NBA players. And it is totally reasonable. NBA players are PR experts. How many emotional outbursts do you see immediately after games, when they are full of emotions? Why didn't we see Luka blazing fire and throw public insults against refs and Morris after a loss? It happens, of course, but rarely. Mostly they are repeating trained PR statements. So one would think, they are able to control their emotions and what they publicly say in other circumstances too. Because they are accountable for their reactions. No one but cops is held accountable for their reactions in this last shooting incident.

What they think and say in their private conversations, is of course a totally different thing.

You're still equating the reactions of NBA players to the rioters. They're not the same. I have no idea if everyone that thinks like you is racist. No way I could know that. I'm not even calling you a racist. I'm to the point of repeating myself, which means this is pointless and you and I will most likely not find common ground, but, to repeast myself, NBA players were not calling for the officer to be sentenced. When you equate the NBA players to rioters and keep talking as if NBA players scalled for an immediate sentencing then there really is no response for what you're saying, except to say, I don't agree.

[omahen]

Just to be clear - I became active on this topic when I saw first reports that Boston and Toronto are thinking to boycott games. I didn't really appreciate all the politics surrounding the game before, but I could tolerate it. But not doing ones job because their is injustice in the world was too much for me. It got me to read a bit more about the incident and come to conclusions I have.

[BigDirk41]

I think something players could use their platform for is trying to make body cameras mandatory for all police nationwide.

I actually think the government should make that a federal law. That should make a lot of people happy I would think.

[IamDougieFresh]

I am pretty sure resisting arrest increases your odds of getting injured or killed

DO NOT RESIST ARREST PEOPLE

[StepBackJay]

I think something players could use their platform for is trying to make body cameras mandatory for all police nationwide.

I actually think the government should make that a federal law. That should make a lot of people happy I would think.

Not a bad idea but then a lot of these places do have body cams and the body cam footage doesn't always help bring much resolution. I still think it's probably better than not having cameras. Still I think sometimes police have some discretion in turning them on or off which seems like it would defeat the purpose.

All that to say having some kind of specific idea policy or otherwise would be helpful. Right now I hear a lot of calls for justice that aren't really specific enough to rally around. If the definition of success is that an unarmed black person (does any other race ever get shot btw?) will never get shot by police again then that's a tough bar to clear. We live in a country that has over 300 million people in it and thousands of police interactions a day.

[fifteenth]

So again I know people want to make up their minds instantly and not change it no matter what details come later but here we have a few details like a) arrest b) taser c) knife in the driver's side floorboard, which was the door he opened. This is in addition to knowing that the cops were ordering him to stop and he was ignoring them. 

So again does resisting arrest and attempting to either get away in a car or grab a knife mean you deserve to get shot 7 times? I don't know but I am pretty sure resisting arrest increases your odds of getting injured or killed. I would like to know more ab police protocol in these type of situations.

Finally, my issue with all these stories is that there is really little thought given to the full context of what happened. Can you call something disturbing without immediately jumping to a final conclusion? It's seems to me that the latter happens with no due process. This isn't helping the conversion imo.

Of course, Blake...

shouldn't have kids with his girlfriend, Mama and Dada not living together is rough
shouldn't go to the women's house when she doesn' want him there
shouldn't resist arrest
shouldn't have a knife in his floor board

But none of that, in my mind, justifies shooting the guy in the back 7 times. 

But either way, there is no way around it, because of our (U.S.) history, a black man being shot in the back 7 times is going to be a gut punch to the country. 

Look,

Officers have to be able to handlle these situations better
The rioters are flat out wrong (Blake's Mom says this)
We have half the country saying trigger happy cops are the problem and half saying rioters are the problem. 
I say both are problems!!!

[StepBackJay]

I am pretty sure resisting arrest increases your odds of getting injured or killed

DO NOT RESIST ARREST PEOPLE

Could we have a PSA or something that says don't resist arrest? I realize people might think a) they are being wrongly arrested or b) that resisting arrest does not deserve a death sentence - still could we have one celebrity or politician speak to communities that resisting arrest has the chance to get you killed?