There was a whirlwind of reporting on social media in the hours after the Milwaukee Bucks decided to sit out their playoff game against the Orlando Magic, a decision that halted the entire NBA playoffs for (at least) two days. Many of those rumors focused on how Lakers star LeBron James reacted to the event.
First, word leaked that James voted not to continue the season because he did not think NBA owner groups did enough Black people, and that his choice had led the entire Lakers team to vote against advancing to the playoffs . The next day it turned out that James had undergone a heart attack, and that he was now “on board” with continuing the postseason, and even delivered a “strong, thoughtful” address to the NBA Board of Governors on a call to finalize the players’ decision to continue playing.
Yahoo Sports ‘Chris Haynes – who is as introverted in James’ camp as any NBA insider – dropped a report over the last 48 hours late Thursday night, in which he cleared up some of the confusion, including the revealing the specific reason why James was annoyed with the Bucks for their unplanned strike of feral cats:
LeBron James was one of many players who also miffed with the Bucks handling the situation, sources said. For him and so many others, it puts them in a no-win situation.
His frustration with Hill and the Bucks was because the players had no plan of action that would get the players back to play, sources said. James’ way of thinking, sources said, was if they refused to play, then what is the end game and what requirements must be met to proceed?
On the one hand, sometimes the strongest protests are those that are not planned, or are not going to be used by an army of lawyers like the union. The actions of the Bucks resonated because no one expected it, not because it was a prior token gesture of dissent.
On the other hand, it’s easy to see where James’s coming from. The players are all part of a union, and all actions they should theoretically take should be done as a unit. The rest of the teams obviously joined in solidarity with the Bucks, but James also clearly felt they did not have much choice, and were forced to a distance they did not agree with without a plan for what they were trying to achieve. . ,
And given that things started already in such an emotional place – and that James and the rest of the players in the bubble were all clearly hurt by everything that happened outside – maybe it’s not surprising what happened next (via Haynes ):
With emotions everywhere, Haslem pressed James and asked the star what he intended to do, reminding him that he is the face of the league and it goes as he goes, sources said.
James then said, “We’re out,” and ran after almost all of his teammates, sources said, with Dwight Howard as the only Laker left.
The Clippers also ran out, joining the Lakers as the only two of the 13 teams still in the bubble to vote against completing the rest of the playoffs.
Howard was the only Laker left to go on about the possibility of resuming the playoffs is an interesting role for him and James, as before the bubble started, it was Howard who expressed reservations while James said he wanted to play.
Eventually, however, James died after having a night to sleep on, and after it became clear that NBA ownership would make further concessions to players to ensure the playoffs continued (including the formulate plans to start and fund “a new program to create daily work on initiatives created by the player, “ according to Shams Charania of The Athletic).
With that completed – in addition to recording the news cycle and forcing the national conversation back to the ongoing problems of systemic racism and police brutality – the movement finally made an impact. It may not have been what James was planning for, but it seems likely that given his actions over the course of Thursday, it’s at least an outcome he’s happy with.
For more Lakers talk, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast feed iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher of Google Podcasts. You can follow Harrison on Twitter at @hmfaigen.
