Boycotts arise across sports leagues
NBA players lock arms and kneel in front of a Black Lives Matter embedded court during the national anthem. Photo by The Wall Street Journal
By Noah Stern
Sports Editor
On the evening of Aug. 23, Jacob Blake was shot in the back seven times in Kenosha, Wisconsin, by police officer Rusten Sheskey. The videos and stories that emerged from this incident have sparked nationwide outrage over more police brutality, involving an innocent black man being shot by a white police officer.
The outrage has spread into sports leagues. Many teams and players are now boycotting their games, and possibly seasons, to demand justice for Blake. The NBA, MLB, NFL, WNBA and MLS have all had teams and players boycott their games or practices. This could have a trickle effect into other teams or leagues around the world.
There have been thousands of protests across the world this summer with the Black Lives Matter movement to demand justice for George Floyd, another innocent black man killed by a white police officer. Upon the restart of their season, the NBA announced that players would be allowed to wear a number of different words or sentences on the back of their jerseys to show support for BLM.
Examples include “Black Lives Matter,” “Equality,” “Vote” and “Liberation.” “Black Lives Matter” is also embedded on every playing court in the bubble. Since the shooting of Jacob Blake, the Milwaukee Bucks were the first team to announce that they would be boycotting their game, leading to the league suspending the rest of the games on that particular day. The NBA has not played a game since the Bucks’ announcement, but there is good news for NBA fans.
The players held a players-only meeting and stated that all but two of the teams still alive want to resume the playoffs. The Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers were the two teams to vote as teams towards boycotting the rest of the season to demand justice and change in the country. LeBron James, the most notable name in sports, said that he wants the team owners to be more involved and to take action against police brutality.
Players hosted another meeting and decided to resume the playoffs on Aug. 28.
The Bucks’ boycott has led to other sports becoming involved in following suit. The MLB has had six teams join the boycotts: the Milwaukee Brewers, Cincinnati Reds, Seattle Mariners, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers.
“Our team voted unanimously not to play tonight,” said Dee Gordon of the Mariners. “Instead of watching us, we hope people will focus on the things more important than sports that are happening.”
This has become a common theme in the past few days, as stars such as Naomi Osaka and Matt Dumba have spoken out about not playing to demand change. Dumba, a defenseman for the Minnesota Wild in the NHL, is the founder of the Hockey Diversity Alliance. He has been extremely upfront and outspoken this summer about systematic racism and police brutality since the unjust killing of George Floyd. The NHL was the one league that decided to continue play on Wednesday, and Dumba had some choice words for the league.
“The NHL is always so late to the party, especially on these topics, so it’s sort of sad and disheartening for me and other members of the HDA and across the league,” said Dumba.
Dumba was not the only NHL player to speak out against the NHL. Evander Kane of the San Jose Sharks also made himself heard.
“Actually, it’s incredibly insulting, as a black man in hockey, the lack of action and acknowledgment from the NHL,” said Kane.
Despite Dumba and Kane’s statement releases, the NHL and their players still refused to postpone games. To many, the move is insulting, and to some, racist. The NHL has never been known for its diversity, a considerable reason why some people perceive no action as a racist gesture.
The NHL’s decision to continue play is even more surprising when NFL teams, who aren’t playing their season yet, have decided to join the boycotts. The Detroit Lions were the first team in the NFL to boycott practices and meetings, leading to nine other teams joining them, including the Green Bay Packers and the Washington Football Team.
With the pressure building around them, the NHL finally decided to postpone games on Aug. 27 and Aug. 28.
These boycotts have been perceived by many, including U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and senior advisor to the president Jared Kushner, as weak and ineffective. But these players and coaches will not stop fighting until real change is made, not caring if they are disliked for their beliefs or resolve. All they care about is continuing to fight for what is right and demanding change in the country.