Milwaukee Bucks Boycott Prompts Wave of Games Halted in Protest

And several athletes opted individually to not play, including the tennis star Naomi Osaka, who said she would not play in a scheduled semifinal at the Western Southern Open in New York, a tuneup for the United States Open that begins next week.

“Before I am an athlete, I am a Black woman,” Osaka said on Twitter. “And as a Black woman I feel as though there are much more important matters at hand that need immediate attention, rather than watching me play tennis.

The Brewers and Reds — in a league that has been typically slower than others to respond to social issues — chose not to play after meetings between players on both teams. The words “JUSTICE EQUALITY NOW” appeared on multiple scoreboards at Miller Park as some players spoke with one another on the field.

“Our community and our nation is in such pain, tonight we wanted 100 percent of the focus to be on issues that are much more important than baseball,” said Brewers reliever Brent Suter, the team’s representative for the players’ union.

In San Diego, Mariners players voted unanimously against playing and their Padres counterparts obliged. The Mariners have the most Black players of any team in M.L.B., a league that has seen the number of Black players dwindle to about 8 percent over the decades.

“For me, and many of my teammates, the injustices, violence, death and systemic racism is deeply personal,” said Mariners outfielder Dee Gordon, one of 10 Black players on the team’s opening day roster.

“Instead of watching us, we hope people will focus on the things more important than sports that are happening,” Gordon added in a post on Twitter.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/26/sports/basketball/nba-boycott-bucks-magic-blake-shooting.html