Members of the National Basketball Referees Association displayed their unison with the ongoing NBA player strike by also taking a stand against racism in the nation.
NBA refs decided to organize a march inside the bubble, as they too protested against what now feels like an endless cycle of violence against members of the Black community. Here’s video of the march on Thursday morning:
NBA referees are assembling to begin marching around the campus in support of the players who took a stand last night. “We’re here because we feel like our group is a representation of America, or what America could be. … This is not right vs left, this is right vs wrong.” pic.twitter.com/2yU5FIeyDO
— Tania Ganguli (@taniaganguli) August 27, 2020
Members of the @OfficialNBARefs leading a march on the Disney campus to show support for everyone standing against racism. pic.twitter.com/vOtBgnQy2D
— Brian Mahoney (@briancmahoney) August 27, 2020
The most recent incident that has been blasted as an utter display of racism by police officers is the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin on Sunday. This resulted in more nationwide protests, to which the players responded by deciding to not boycott Wednesday’s three scheduled playoff games.
The rest of the postseason is now in jeopardy, with prominent players such as LeBron James and Kawhi Leonard reportedly urging their colleagues to boycott the remainder of the season. According to reports, there was no consensus reached during Wednesday’s tense meeting among the players, and a second meeting is scheduled for Thursday morning with the aim of coming up with a unified plan of action.
It is clear that the referees are in full support of the players’ decision to go on strike, and they have exhibited this by holding their own peaceful protests. Game officials may not exactly be the most powerful figures in the league, but this act certainly helps in terms of solidarity.
Three games are slated to take place on Thursday. The Utah Jazz have an opportunity to close out their series against the Denver Nuggets, with the Los Angeles Clippers in a similar scenario in their battle against the Dallas Mavericks. The first game of the second round is also supposed to take place between the Boston Celtics and Toronto Raptors, but at this point, it does not seem like any of these games will be played.
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