Athletes stage boycott over shooting of Jacob Blake, Latest Others News - The New Paper
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Athletes stage boycott over shooting of Jacob Blake

The Milwaukee Bucks staged an unprecedented boycott yesterday morning (Singapore time) over the police shooting of a black man, forcing the NBA to halt its play-off schedule and prompting a wave of walkouts by teams and players across other sports.

The NBA postponed its entire slate of fixtures yesterday morning, after the Bucks refused to play Game Five of their Eastern Conference first-round series against the Orlando Magic in protest at the shooting of Jacob Blake in Wisconsin on Sunday.

Blake was seriously injured after being shot point-blank in the back seven times by police officers in a confrontation captured in video footage.

Multiple reports later said that LeBron James' Los Angeles Lakers and the Los Angeles Clippers have voted to abandon the NBA season.

The boycotts spread to other sports, with some Major League Baseball games postponed.

In tennis, two-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka withdrew in protest from the Western & Southern Open semi-finals, but reversed her decision last night, as the organisers' postponement of matches "brings more attention to the movement". - REUTERS

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