The riot in US sports extends after men's and women's professional basketball, driven by the historic decision of the Bucks, postponed Wednesday's games to protest the wounding of African American Jacob Blake by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin. On the same day, three Major League Baseball games and five Major League Soccer matches were also postponed after the players refused to take the field.
The decision not to play to protest Blake's injury also affects athletes in individual sports such as tennis in the US. Japanese champion Naomi Osaka has announced that she does not intend to compete in the semifinal of the Western & Southern Open USA. "Before I am an athlete, I am an African American woman," she tweeted. The US tennis association has agreed to stop all matches today.
The Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers have voted for the final suspension of the NBA season. After the boycott in protest against the African American's injury, in a long meeting between all the players present in Orlando where the American basketball playoffs are in progress, LeBron James himself spoke out for the proposal to stop the season and give a tough response against racism. According to US media reports, only the two Californian teams would have asked for a stop, while all the others would be in favor of continuing. The emergency meeting was held after the Milwaukee Bucks refused to take the field against the Orlando Magic. Summit between club owners is now awaited.
Barack Obama supports the protest of US professional basketball players. A protest initiated by the Bucks, Wisconsin's only NBA team. "I commend the Bucks players for taking a stand for what they believe in, coaches like Doc Rivers (coach of the Clippers, ed), the NBA and the WNBA to set an example. It will take all our institutions to fight for our values. ", he tweeted.
And it had already happened for the murder of George Floyd, is repeated for the wounding of Blake. The world of golf also takes the field to take sides against all forms of racism and discrimination in the US. And it does so through a video message from Cameron Champ, an American player with a biracial father. "This is just the tip of the iceberg, people have ignored the problem for too long and we have come to a point where the situation has become intolerable. Change has to happen and I feel it is going in the right direction. to turn on the spotlight. As far as I'm concerned I'll do everything I believe in to try to support change. I've seen many other athletes tackle these issues. People don't want to talk about it but this is the reality we live in. " In the video message from Olympia Fields (Illinois), where the BMW Championship kicks off today, Champ, winner of two tournaments on the PGA Tour, wears a black and a white shoe, the latter with the writing, in marker, "Jacob Blake "and" BLM "(Black Lives Matter).