The bubble might be popping, but life outside of the Orlando campus is still in a state of terror. As a result, NBA players and other athletes made it clear that they are on the side of the people.
Police in Kenosha, Wisconsin shot a Black man named Jacob Blake multiple times in the back on Sunday evening. Per reports, Blake was entering the driver's side of his SUV. Blake's three children ages 3, 5, and 8 were in the car when their father was shot by the police.
This forced athletes like LeBron James, Donovan Mitchell, and more to voice their outrage.
Blake is reportedly in serious condition and fighting for his life at a local hospital.
Unfortunately, civil unrest has become America's new norm. People are weathering a pandemic to flood the streets in protest of the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and more. Things got so hectic that NBA players considered sitting out of the restart as to not steal attention from the growing movement. Yet while some fans were excited to see Luka Doncic's game-winning buzzer-beater, that joy perils in comparison to the pain people feel when they witness the police commit acts of violence. This moved Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer to use his pregame interview to speak on what's happening in the team's home state as well as remind fans that some things are bigger than basketball.
"I’d just like to send out my thoughts and prayers to Jacob Blake and his family, another young Black man shot by a police officer," Budenholzer said while wearing a shirt that referenced Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. "We need to have change, we need to be better and I’m hoping for the best for him and his family. I’m hoping for the best as we work through this in Wisconsin and in Milwaukee and in Kenosha. So, thoughts and prayers with Jacob Blake."
