NBA postpones playoff games after boycotts over Wisconsin police shooting of black man

The NBA announced today that it was rescheduling three playoff games after several teams decided to boycott their matches reportedly in protest over the recent police shooting of a black man in Wisconsin, and some MLB teams decided to forego baseball games that were scheduled to take place Wednesday night.

The Milwaukee Bucks elected on Wednesday to boycott Game 5 of the first round of the NBA playoffs in protest over the Sunday shooting by police of Kenosha, Wisconsin resident Jacob Blake. 

ESPN reporter Adrian Wojnarowski wrote on Twitter that the team "made this decision in the wake of the Jacob Blake shooting in Wisconsin, ultimately deciding that they wouldn't leave the locker room for the start of Game 5 against Orlando."

Athletic writer Shams Charania later wrote on Twitter that two other teams—the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Houston Rockets—were boycotting their own game. 

Charania also reported that the L.A. Lakers and the Portland Trailblazers would be sitting out their game, as well. 

Following those decisions, the NBA announced via Twitter that it had postponed all three Game 5 matches for Wednesday. "The NBA and the NBPA today announced that in light of the Milwaukee Bucks’ decision to not take the floor today for Game 5 against the Orlando Magic, today’s three games – MIL-ORL, HOU-OKC and LAL-POR have been postponed," the Association wrote. 

"Game 5 of each series will be rescheduled," the organization added.

Some MLB teams chose to skip playing baseball on Wednesday. The players of the Milwaukee Brewers and Cincinnati Reds decided not to play in a planned game on Wednesday evening.

"The players from the Brewers and Reds have decided to not play tonight's baseball game. With our community and our nation in such pain, we wanted to draw as much attention to the issues that really matter, especially racial injustice and systemic oppression," a statement from the players of both teams said.

The Seattle Mariners also decided to skip a game they were going to play against the San Diego Padres on Wednesday night.

"The Seattle Mariners respect the team's decision to not play tonight's game. The Seattle Mariners stand with out players as they speak out with their words and actions against social injustice," a tweet declared.

The Sunday shooting of Blake, which was caught on video and widely circulated on social media, has touched off a round of protests and demonstrations in the small municipality of Kenosha, some of which have turned violent and destructive. President Trump on Wednesday said he was dispatching the National Guard to Kenosha to help quell the unrest. 

The Wisconsin Department of Justice on Wednesday reported that authorities located a knife in Blake's vehicle.

"During the investigation following the initial incident, Mr. Blake admitted that he had a knife in his possession. DCI agents recovered a knife from the driver’s side floorboard of Mr. Blake’s vehicle," the department wrote in a press release.