The Utah Jazz and New Orleans Pelicans will kick off the NBA seeding games on Thursday.
According to Malika Andrews of ESPN, the Jazz and Pelicans could surround the Black Lives Matter sign on the Wide World of Sports arena court and kneel together during the playing of the national anthem.
Instead of having two groups protest separately, the Pelicans and Jazz are adamant that they want to display a united front, sources said. The coaches are expected to join the players in the demonstration.
The NBA is not expected to enforce a 1981 national anthem policy that says “players, coaches and trainers are to stand and line up in a dignified posture along the sidelines or on the foul line” for the games down in Orlando, Florida.
Players are already expected to kneel during the national anthem at Disney World, but it appears the Jazz and Pelicans want to display a united front since the NBA is mostly made up of African Americans. Moreover, the tragic deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor are still on the minds of everyone in the league.
The NBA will have eight seeding games before the 2020 playoffs start. Six teams each in the Eastern and Western Conference have already clinched playoff spots, though the Dallas Mavericks in the West are virtually locked in already.
In the East, the Brooklyn Nets, Washington Wizards and Orlando Magic will fight for the last two spots. Meanwhile, in the West, the eighth seed will come down between the Memphis Grizzlies, Portland Trail Blazers, Pelicans, Sacramento Kings, San Antonio Spurs and Phoenix Suns.
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