NBA players decide to resume playoff games

One day after walking out on their playoff games in protest of systemic racism and the police shooting of Jacob Blake, NBA players will soon be back on the court.

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, players decided on Thursday morning to return to work and finish out the playoffs.

Woj also reported that Thursday’s three playoff games will be postponed. There are ongoing discussions about when the teams will be returning to play.

This result was far from assured. The players held a three-hour meeting on Wednesday night to discuss whether or not they should continue the playoffs after walking out earlier in the day, and emotions ran high all around. According to Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes, some players were upset with the Milwaukee Bucks for deciding to go on strike without first talking to the National Basketball Players Association or their opponents, the Orlando Magic.

Haynes also reported that The Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers both voted to walk out on the remaining postseason games and return home. Those teams were the first ones to exit the long NBA meeting on Wednesday night, with LeBron James and Kawhi Leonard making their feelings about ending the playoffs clear.

That changed by Thursday morning. According to Haynes, a good night’s sleep helped everyone gain some perspective and get on the same page. (Yahoo Sport)