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

Ever since the NBA 2019-20 season resumed, US President Donald Trump has publically criticised the league's decision to support the Black Lives Matter movement. This week, the Milwaukee Bucks chose to strike and boycott their first-round playoffs Game 5 against the Orlando Magic after Jacob Blake's shooting. While Trump remained tight-lipped about Blake's brutal shooting, he chose to slam the NBA after the move to postpone the 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 the NBA has now become like a "political organization", condemning the league for their consistent protests supporting the BLM movement. This comment is preceded by White House aides calling the league "hypocrites" who are protesting against systemic racism but refuse to comment on the situation in China. In a previous radio show, Donald Trump had called out players for kneeling during the national anthem, referring to them as "very nasty" and "very dumb".

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Donald Trump on NBA's support for the BLM movement

President Trump calls NBA players "disgraceful" for kneeling during anthem, implies that he's done more for the black community than Abraham Lincoln pic.twitter.com/C5YJW3pAps

— gifdsports (@gifdsports) August 5, 2020

“They’ve become like a political organization, and that’s not a good thing,” Trump told reporters. Since his previous interviews, the president has spoken about the declining NBA ratings after stating that he will no longer watch the games if they continue disrespecting the American anthem and flag. “I don’t think that’s a good thing for sports or for the country.” Following his comments, NBA icon LeBron James spoke to the media after a game about players not being bothered by Trump refusing to watch NBA games. 

LeBron James on Donald Trump saying he won’t watch any more NBA games because people have kneeled to protest systemic racism during the national anthem: “I really don’t think the basketball community are sad about losing his viewership.” pic.twitter.com/l9sP7LiFsi

— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) August 6, 2020

Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff Marc Short also spoke to CNN about the NBA boycott and protests over the Jacob Blake shooting. He referred to their attempts as "absurd and silly" as they remain quiet about the 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 not even receiving proper schooling. “There is a contrast to the positions they’ve been taking,” Short said.

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

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(Image credits: AP)