Subscribe
Follow Us
An emergency meeting was held on Wednesday among NBA teams in the wake of the postponement of the three playoff games that were slated to take place. New reports have no surfaced that the meeting ended in an “ugly” fashion, and that a lot of frustration was geared towards Milwaukee Bucks veteran George Hill.
David Aldridge of The Athletic reports that the meeting ended without any real resolution as to what the next steps the league, the teams, or the players will take moving forward:
Told the players’ meeting ended "ugly," per a source, with uncertainty about what will happen tomorrow. The union will be present at the special Board of Governors meeting, per a source.
— David Aldridge (@davidaldridgedc) August 27, 2020
As per Shams Charania, also of The Athletic, the Bucks were singled out for not advising the league about their decision to boycott Wednesday's game. Hill in particular was identified as the individual who instigated the walkout.
Sources: There was some frustration in meeting toward Bucks blindsiding on walk-out plan. Bucks’ George Hill admitted he first sparked conversation pregame to boycott contest, teammates supported.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 27, 2020
To be clear, the other teams and the players are not disappointed with the Bucks' decision to boycott — it's more of the manner by which they executed their protest. Without the Bucks informing the other teams about their decision beforehand, everyone else was blindsided.
In a way, the Bucks forced the hand of the other teams. Once the Bucks decided not to come out, any other team that opted to do so afterwards would have likely been criticized for their lack of support.
According to Vince Goodwill of Yahoo Sports, LeBron James took issue with Bucks taking action without discussing the major move with other teams.
Sources to @YahooSports: There was frustration with Milwaukee players for doing this without talking to others. LeBron James initially stated he would go with the consensus, then got angry and stormed out.
— Vincent Goodwill (@VinceGoodwill) August 27, 2020
Take the Orlando Magic, for instance, who were supposed to be Milwaukee's opponents on Wednesday. All the headlines noted that it was the Bucks that decided not to take the court, without any mention of the Magic. In a way, it makes it look like the Magic wanted to play, and that it was only because of the Bucks that the game was actually postponed.
The rest of the league seem to be on the same page with what the Bucks are doing here, and there has actually been talk of boycotting the season altogether. However, a show of solidarity is tantamount at this point, and this is perhaps where Milwaukee acted preemptively.
