NBA players were blindsided and frustrated when theMilwaukee Bucks sat out of their game on Wednesday with no warning.- Players on other teams reportedly felt "obligated" to also sit out and had to make decisions quickly.
- During a heated players meeting on Wednesday, players questioned the Bucks on why they didn't warn other teams about their plans to sit out and the direction they wanted to take after.
- Players on Thursday agreed to resume the playoffs.
NBA players followed the Milwaukee Bucks' lead on Wednesday by sitting out games in protest of the police shooting of Jacob Blake. However, not everynody was happy with the spur-of-the-moment nature of the decision.
"Many were frustrated and emotionally drained after being caught off-guard by the Bucks' refusal to take the court Wednesday for Game 5 of their first-round series against the Orlando Magic without informing anyone outside the team of their plans," Chris Haynes of Yahoo wrote.
As ESPN detailed on Thursday, some Bucks players arrived at the arena for Game 5 against the Orlando Magic on Wednesday, believing they would play.
Bucks guard George Hill, who had expressed frustration earlier in the week with being in the bubble and unable to join protests, was the catalyst in pushing the Bucks to sit out of Wednesday's game. According to Haynes, the Bucks thought sitting out would give them a forfeiture and a loss, but not spark a wave of protests.
However, soon after the Bucks did not take the court, the Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder decided not to play their respective Game 5 on Wednesday, followed by the Los Angeles Lakers and Portland Trail Blazers. Haynes reported that players from those teams felt "obligated" to sit out to be unified with the Bucks.
ESPN's Malika Andrews said on "Get Up" on Thursday that Magic players who had taken the court and warmed up on Wednesday were unaware of the Bucks' plans and felt left out.
"As we all know, the Magic went out, and they warmed up, and so some players on that team felt like they wanted to be included in whatever they were going to do," Andrews said.
A meeting between players and coaches in the bubble on Wednesday reportedly grew heated.
"The Bucks got jumped a little bit in there, in some ways, by their peers," ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski said on his podcast.
Wojnarowski added: "I think less than the action or the decision to sit out the game, I think the rest of the league felt blindsided by it, and it put them in a position where ... they had to make very quick decisions."
Haynes reported that
However, according to ESPN, some also defended the Bucks, including Boston Celtics forward Jaylen Brown, who said the Bucks didn't need to explain their reasoning for sitting out.
According to reports, that Wednesday meeting ended in "ugly" fashion, with tensions and emotions high and little agreement among players about the best course of action. They decided to meet again on Thursday.
Haynes reported that a majority of players voted on continuing the season during a Thursday meeting, though some players still objected.
Chris Paul, the Players Association president, has since pushed that players be united in whatever they choose to do going forward.
Games are expected to resume on Saturday.
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