-The NBA has announced, all three playoff games
that were going to be played on Wednesday
will be postponed and rescheduled.
The league released a statement
after the Milwaukee Bucks players
did not take the court for Game 5
of their first-round series against the Orlando Magic.
-The Mariners players came off the field
and returned to the clubhouse
and took a vote and decided not to play.
-And there will be no WNBA games tonight.
-So, really, an unprecedented moment in sports.
We have never seen this type of protest, a strike.
It's a historic moment in sports and one that is not supposed to
make you feel good about society or the sports themselves.
That's the whole point.
-We stand in solidarity with our brothers in the NBA
and will continue this conversation with our brothers
and sisters across all leagues
and look to take collective action.
-I think what you've seen is a progression,
in terms of, you know, it started with WNBA players.
-I'm scared for my brothers and sisters,
my nieces and nephews, my future son or daughter.
-Wearing T-shirts in protest, you know,
it stands to Colin Kaepernick
taking a knee during the national anthem,
and others following suit.
Now you're all the way, you know, four years later,
into this, in which leagues had to commit
to sending social-justice messaging
just so the players will come play.
The expansion of it is really stunning,
because just a few years ago,
these people were almost like pariahs,
and now you're accepting it.
However, in this moment, there was always going to come a time
when someone did something that wasn't "approved."
Sometimes you just got to take a stand on your own.
It's great that Adam Silver is so supportive of the players.
But sometimes you got to do something
that the boss doesn't want you to do,
because that tells you how committed you are to the cause.
-For the last few days, in our home state of Wisconsin,
we've seen the horrendous video of Jacob Blake being shot
in the back seven times by a police officer in Kenosha,
and the additional shooting of protesters.
Despite the overwhelming plea for change,
there has been no action,
so our focus today cannot be on basketball.
-It's all about urgency.
That's what these athletes feel.
They now realize that no matter how popular they are,
no matter how determined they are,
no matter how big of platforms they have,
they're still unheard.
They're similar in some ways
to protesters shouting in the streets.
There's only so much of an effect they can have,
because it takes a level of power
even greater than their power to speak to true power.
-All you do is keep hearing about fear.
It's --
It's amazing to me why we keep loving this country,
and this country does not love us back.
-People feel like it's not an athlete's role.
Well, the reason that they have to assume this role
is because there aren't enough people of color
and of influence in this country;
there are not enough compassionate lawmakers
who want to use their power, their true power,
to enact change.
So it's almost like we're the best we got,
and if we don't try to do something to break through
and get through to some of these people,
who else is going to do it?
-I wasn't going to play tonight,
just 'cause I have to just stand by my guns here.
Like Doc said, there's a lot going on in the world,
and change needs to be made.
You know, I have to use my platform
to at least get the ball rolling.
-They don't understand the vulnerability that it takes.
No one wants to be hated.
No one wants to have their career taken away from them,
which happened to Colin Kaepernick and others.
No one wants to have to sacrifice that much,
but that's how much they believe in justice.