Raptors players may boycott games in stand against Jacob Blake shooting

UPDATE: On Wednesday, August 26, the Milwaukee Bucks led a boycott of the night's scheduled playoff games in the NBA Bubble, and released a statement calling for justice for Jacob Blake. The NBA announced that Game 5 of each series "will be rescheduled," and the WNBA will also reschedule tonight's three games. The players' strike reached the MLB, where the Milwaukee Brewers and Cincinnati Reds also decided not to play their game scheduled for Wednesday evening.The WNBA has dedicated its season to Breonna Taylor and players in the NBA have started every game since July taking a knee during the anthem as well as wearing approved social justice sayings on their jerseys, but now some are asking if it’s enough. On Tuesday, Toronto Raptors players Fred VanVleet and Norm Powell used their media call time to discuss the recent, atrocious shooting of Wisconsin man Jacob Blake by police, and hint at a possible boycott.On August 23, Blake was shot seven times in the back while only a few feet away from three of his children. The Kenosha, Wisconsin man was reportedly breaking up a fight when police were called to a residential home and turned their attention to Blake. His lawyers confirm that the seven bullets fired by police have rendered Blake paralyzed. The officer who fired the shots has not been named by Kenosha County and two people have died after three nights of protests in Kenosha.“I'm in a different place today, emotionally speaking. It's starting to feel like everything we're doing is just going through the motions, nothing's changing,” said VanVleet during a press call on Tuesday as per Complex. “What are we willing to give up? Do we actually give a f**k about what’s going on?”Powell echoed VanVleet’s sentiment. In a tweet shared by Sportsnet reporter Michael Grange, Powell allegedly said that “taking a knee is not getting it done.”

“It’s being talked about .... taking a knee is not getting it done.” Norm Powell about the possibility of boycotting games.

— Michael Grange (@michaelgrange) August 25, 2020

TSN reporter Kayla Grey confirmed that the Raptors players have been in conversation about a possible boycott, adding that “there is frustration that messages aren’t getting across.”

Norm Powell and Fred VanVleet have both said that there have been conversations about boycotting. There is frustration that messages aren't getting across.

— Kayla Grey (@Kayla_Grey) August 25, 2020

Let's get clear on this: Players never had this idea that messages on their jersey or taking a knee during anthems was the ONLY fix to what's going on right now.

— Kayla Grey (@Kayla_Grey) August 25, 2020

Grey also spoke to VanVleet about how he feels as a father of two Black children. Referencing Blake and calling the shooting "completely avoidable," VanVleet said, “We all personalize everything so to personalize a situation like that and thinking about my babies having to see that or my son, who is going to have to walk into some of these same environments and you have to teach your kids about how to interact with the police and what to do, what not to do, you become helpless a little bit. It’s scary. Scary is the word I would use.”

I asked Fred VanVleet about the emotions that come up as a father when you are constantly watching videos of police brutality against Black people. pic.twitter.com/49WsdUQn0K

— Kayla Grey (@Kayla_Grey) August 26, 2020

Celtics players Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown also discussed a possible boycott on Tuesday. "It’s been talked about, but we haven’t confirmed anything. It’s definitely in the back of our minds to not play,” Smart told CBS. Brown, who tweeted about Blake’s shooting, told reporters that the video of the man being shot haunts him. “People post my jersey all the time, number seven. Every time I look at my jersey now, what I see is a Black man being shot seven times. But all America sees is his background or his background before. It’s easier to see that than it is to see the truth,” said Brown.

An extremely emotional Jaylen Brown @FCHWPO on the Jacob Blake shooting in Wisconsin. #Celtics @wbz #wbz

(Via @celtics @nba) pic.twitter.com/DZzNTjrUY6— Dan Roche (@RochieWBZ) August 25, 2020

L.A. Clippers coach Doc Rivers also used his recent time with the media to focus the conversation on protests in Wisconsin and the continued unchecked use of violence by police towards Black people. Referencing President Trump’s remarks about fear at this week’s Republican National Convention, an emotional Rivers said Trump had no idea what it meant to live in fear."We're the ones getting killed. We're the ones getting shot. We're the ones that are denied to live in certain communities. We've been hung. We've been shot,” said Rivers. "It's amazing why we keep loving this country, and this country does not love us back.”

“It’s amazing to me why we keep loving this country and this country does not love us back.”

Doc Rivers delivers an emotional message on the police shooting of Jacob Blake. pic.twitter.com/A0T26OfsDG— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) August 26, 2020

[video_embed id='2018389']BEFORE YOU GO: Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri counter-sues California sheriffs deputy[/video_embed]