NBA Rumors: Celtics, Raptors Both Considering Boycotting Game 1 Of Series
It remains to be seen whether the Celtics and Raptors will play Thursday night.
Boston and Toronto both are considering boycotting Game 1 of their second-round NBA playoffs series as a response to the shooting of Jacob Blake, The Undefeated’s Marc J. Spears reported Wednesday morning.
Players from both teams met Tuesday night inside the Walt Disney World bubble and discussed multiple forms of protest, including a boycott of the Eastern Conference semifinals opener.
The players intend to meet again Wednesday night, according to Spears.
Blake, a Black man from Kenosha, Wisc., was shot seven times Sunday by a police officer attempting to arrest him during a domestic dispute. The 29-year-old, whose father claims now is paralyzed from the waist down, was in the process entering a vehicle containing his children at the time of the shooting.
Blake briefly scuffled with multiple officers and was tasered before the shooting. There is an open warrant for his arrest — including charges of third-degree sexual assault, trespassing and disorderly conduct — stemming from an alleged domestic abuse incident last month. It’s unclear whether the officers from Sunday’s incident were aware of the warrant at the time.
The shooting of Blake has sparked protests — some violent, some peaceful — in Kenosha. At least two people were killed Tuesday night in a shooting located near one of the protests.
Many across the sports world also have spoken out against the actions of the officers.
As of Wednesday afternoon, none of the officers involved were charged for their roles in the incident.
The Celtics and Raptors are scheduled to tip off at 6:30 p.m. ET on Thursday night at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando.
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