LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — It is bound to be forgotten with time that the Milwaukee Bucks, determined as they were in their pursuit of social justice, merely wanted to forfeit a basketball game Wednesday. The Bucks initially believed that they could stage a one-game, spur-of-the-moment walkout, even during the N.B.A. playoffs, without far-reaching consequences.

Let’s just say they underestimated the gravity of that stance.

What is sure to be remembered as one of the most tumultuous weeks in league history all started with the 2019-20 Bucks refusing to emerge from their locker room to face the Orlando Magic. The Bucks are thus destined to be memorialized as the fed-up group that responded to a police shooting in their home state with a protest conceived minutes before a playoff game was set to tip-off. In that moment, Milwaukee unexpectedly brought the N.B.A.’s maiden summer postseason to a sudden halt — and ultimately forced players leaguewide to decide if they wanted to keep playing or burst the league’s so-called bubble altogether.

Convinced that they should not play after Jacob Blake, a Black man, was shot several times by the police in Kenosha, Wis., these Bucks likewise inspired a momentous wave of protests against racism and police brutality throughout North American sports. The resulting fallout prompted N.B.A. team owners to pledge that arenas all over the league would be used as voting sites in November.

“I think it’s great we all came to the bubble, and it’s great when we kneel together for the national anthem,” said Michael Carter-Williams of the Magic. “It’s great that we took a stand, but where’s the real action?”

Source: New York Times

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