Donald Trump labels NBA a "political organisation" after boycott over Jacob Blake shooting

Ever since NBA 2019-20 season resumed, US President Donald Trump has publically criticised league's decision to support Black Lives Matter movement. This week, Milwaukee Bucks chose to strike and boycott ir first-round playoffs Game 5 against Orlando Magic after Jacob Blake's shooting. While Trump remained tight-lipped about Blake's brutal shooting, he chose to slam NBA after move to postpone games as a form of protest over police brutality. 

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NBA playoffs postponed: Donald Trumps labels NBA “a political organization" after NBA boycott

On Thursday, Trump said that NBA has w become like a "political organization", condemning league for ir consistent protests supporting BLM movement. This comment is preceded by White House aides calling league "hypocrites" who are protesting against systemic racism but refuse to comment on situation in China. In a previous rio show, Donald Trump h called out players for kneeling during national anm, referring to m as "very nasty" and "very dumb".

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Donald Trump on NBA's support for BLM movement

“y’ve become like a political organization, and that’s t a good thing,” Trump told reporters. Since his previous interviews, president has spoken about declining NBA ratings after stating that he will longer watch games if y continue disrespecting American anm and flag. “I don’t think that’s a good thing for sports or for country.” Following his comments, NBA icon LeBron James spoke to media after a game about players t being bored by Trump refusing to watch NBA games. 

Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff Marc Short also spoke to CNN about NBA boycott and protests over Jacob Blake shooting. He referred to ir attempts as "absurd and silly" as y remain quiet about  issues in China. Short's comments are connected to last month's ESPN reports which revealed that young student-athletes were being physically abused by instructors and coaches in China, while t even receiving proper schooling. “re is a contrast to positions y’ve been taking,” Short said.

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Milwaukee Bucks boycotted play after refusing to walk out of ir locker room on August 26. Orlando Magic left court after realising that Bucks will t be showing up. Following ir boycott, Houston Rockets and OKC Thunder also chose to boycott ir game. league n anunced that playoffs have been postponed. However, ESPN's rian Wojnarowski reported that league hopes to resume play by weekend. White House senior viser Jared Kushner spoke to CNBC about NBA boycott, stating that players are fortunate that y can "take a night off from work without having to have consequences to mselves financially."

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(Im credits: AP)