Milwaukee Bucks boycott Game 5 vs Orlando

ElUno20

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Jul 19, 2005
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Do i sound like a bigger jerk by saying that most of America could care less if they play or not?
In a thread specifically about the issue? Yeah.

Here's your attention and pat on the back for being so cool. Congratulations.
 

bankshot1

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Feb 12, 2003
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where I was last at
WaPo published an article today about Russell and the '61 Celtics walk-out

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2020/08/27/bill-russell-nba-boycott/

As an aside I remember when Russell led a pre-game player revolt and potential boycott of the '64 NBA All-star game (to be played at the Gahden) until the NBA instituted a player pension plan. The plan was approved shortly before tip-off. As a further aside that '64 ASG was the last one to be played in Boston. Owners are still pissed about that pension plan.
 

joe dokes

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Until Amazon or Google just pulls the plug for a day or 3 in support of the cause, I don't think enough people will care.
McCourtys comments today make me more sad than angry.
 

mostman

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Jun 3, 2003
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Until Amazon or Google just pulls the plug for a day or 3 in support of the cause, I don't think enough people will care.
McCourtys comments today make me more sad than angry.
Can you imagine it Amazon shut down AWS for all non government business for 24 hours. That would get some attention.
 

JohnnyTheBone

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May 28, 2007
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Nobody Cares
As a further aside that '64 ASG was the last one to be played in Boston. Owners are still pissed about that pension plan.
And the C's have been getting an unfriendly whistle ever since.

Anyway, Bill Russell is an American hero and it stuns me that Stern and now Silver have done so little to recognize him. They eventually named the Finals MVP the "Bill Russell Award, then Russell was straight-up ignored on national TV during the Finals when he showed up to hand out the award in-person.
 

InstaFace

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Can you imagine it Amazon shut down AWS for all non government business for 24 hours. That would get some attention.
I mean, they'd get sued into oblivion, because they've provided contractual SLAs to their customers.

But they could shut down Amazon.com itself. I mean, a lot of internet sites did that - a day of going dark - to protest SOPA and PIPA when the legislation was trying to fuck with them and their liability. This would matter less to them personally but more to society.
 

santadevil

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In a thread specifically about the issue? Yeah.

Here's your attention and pat on the back for being so cool. Congratulations.
If we're going to point out way off base and useless posts in this thread, I nominate this

FYI, whatever happens overall, tonight's games will not take place. So, don't make any big plans around the C's.
 

benhogan

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Nov 2, 2007
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If they are going to play these games, I'd like to see the NBA/Silver come out with some tangible, focused steps here (ie Get Out the Vote, Pros/Cons of defunding police forces, Organizing Peaceful Protests, etc).

If I was the players I would NOT start playing until Adam Silver gets on the podium, in front of the cameras, with people like LeBron, Chris Paul, Ballmer, Pat Riley, MJ, Magic, Bird, Shaq, Barkley, Jaylen Brown, Tilman Fertitta etc behind him (virtually or physically). And have Silver list 1 by 1 the steps they are taking tomorrow, next week, next month, next year to help end Police violence. The players should demand details. Screw the god damn playoff schedule.

Also, I don't want to hear "whatever the players want, we're behind them" from owners, NBA executives, agents or head coaches. Take the lead. Help them. If your smart enough to draw up a play, trade these players, sign these players to represent their interests (and get paid multiple millions of dollars) you're smart enough to strategize a game plan to best utilize the player's platform to impact social change.

The NBA/Adam Silver should be enlisting the help from eliminated teams, its players, executives, owners in those cities NOW. Enlisting the help of HOFers (they may speak to an older generation). Enlisting the help of other sports leagues. Enlisting the help from their corporate sponsors and broadcast partners.

The players should also demand that TNT/Disney relentlessly show the police violence captured on video, during games, all game long. Split-screen style (They can get rid of those quarterly coaches interviews). And talk about how these police officers got away with this. We need incarceration statistics (instead of FG%) and its impact on black communities. TNT/Disney can WARN people ahead of time of the violent nature of those videos and stats. If this makes the viewer uncomfortable, good. If this ruins your basketball viewing experience, too bad.

The NBA and team executives are pretty darn smart. They can take a moment and stop patting themselves on the back about the bubble results compared to the rest of the sports leagues (oh yea, thanks NBA players for sacrificing your family life) and effect Social change/progress.

If this is the wrong forum, apologies. I don't travel much outside the Port Cellar.
 

128

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Has there been anything official about when exactly the playoffs will resume?
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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The Social Chair

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All parties agreed to resume NBA playoff games on Saturday, Aug. 29 with the understanding that the league together with the players will work to enact the following commitments:

1. The NBA and its players have agreed to immediately establish a social justice coalition, with representatives from players, coaches and governors, that will be focused on a broad range of issues, including increasing access to voting, promoting civic engagement, and advocating for meaningful police and criminal justice reform.



2. In every city where the league franchise owns and controls the arena property, team governors will continue to work with local elections officials to convert the facility into a voting location for the 2020 general election to allow for a safe in-person voting option for communities vulnerable to COVID. If a deadline has passed, team governors will work with local elections officials to find another election-related use for the facility, including but not limited to voter registration and ballot receiving boards.



3. The league will work with the players and our network partners to create and include advertising spots in each NBA playoff game dedicated to promoting greater civic engagement in national and local elections and raising awareness around voter access and opportunity.



“These commitments follow months of close collaboration around designing a safe and healthy environment to restart the NBA season, providing a platform to promote social justice, as well as creating an NBA Foundation focused on economic empowerment in the Black community.

“We look forward to the resumption of the playoffs and continuing to work together – in Orlando and in all NBA team markets – to push for meaningful and sustainable change.”
 

tmracht

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Aug 19, 2009
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It'll be interesting to see how many cities adopt the use of the facilities. As a player that's a very cut and dry outcome for your actions. There's no gray area either your arena turns into something to promote voting or it doesn't but at least you have the pledge on record. It is something they're going to be able to hold the governors too as a metric.
 

The Social Chair

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Lebron was already working on this and has recieved commitments from the following teams/arenas.

the LA Clippers at The LA Forum, Washington Wizards, Golden State Warriors, Indiana Pacers, New Jersey Devils, Dallas Mavericks, Pittsburgh Steelers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Atlanta Hawks, Houston Rockets, Detroit Pistons, Milwaukee Bucks, and Washington Capitals
 
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jcd0805

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Using the stadiums is a great idea, but are there enough extra voting machines around to use? You'll also need a bunch of more volunteers to man the polls and they'll need a quick training session or two. I've already decided when I retire in a few years I'm going to volunteer every single election, without all of those old volunteers we'd be sunk.
 

Kliq

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Using the stadiums is a great idea, but are there enough extra voting machines around to use? You'll also need a bunch of more volunteers to man the polls and they'll need a quick training session or two. I've already decided when I retire in a few years I'm going to volunteer every single election, without all of those old volunteers we'd be sunk.
Not sure about the plans everywhere, but I know a few months ago when the Hawks announced the plans for their building to be a voting center they mentioned that the arena staff (who have been out of work with no events) would be trained and used as election workers.
 

jcd0805

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Not sure about the plans everywhere, but I know a few months ago when the Hawks announced the plans for their building to be a voting center they mentioned that the arena staff (who have been out of work with no events) would be trained and used as election workers.
oh what a great idea!
 

RorschachsMask

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On google and nba.com, it’s now showing the game for tomorrow. With a TBD for the time of the game.

Don’t know if it means anything, but they both said Sunday as of last night.
 

Jed Zeppelin

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Using the stadiums is a great idea, but are there enough extra voting machines around to use? You'll also need a bunch of more volunteers to man the polls and they'll need a quick training session or two. I've already decided when I retire in a few years I'm going to volunteer every single election, without all of those old volunteers we'd be sunk.
LeBron has already been working on the bolded:

The group, which bands together James, other star athletes, state election officials and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, is partnering to draft young activists to work at polling locations for November's general election across the southern and battleground states of Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, Florida, Ohio, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina, and Texas.
Arena staff is another good effort. There is so much collective money, star power, and influence amongst pro sports leagues in this country. They can get stuff done.

I would like to see this turn into an annual effort—NHL/NBA agree not to have any games on Election Day every year in order to open their arenas for voting, or open for select hours during early voting windows in the run-up (I believe with early in person voting you can vote at any available site in your county). MLB is already done by then too, and NFL doesn't play on Tuesdays. No more 8 hours lines out side school gyms in certain neighborhoods. Provide a major civic service to the country, let fans experience stepping on the field/court, etc etc.
 
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Marciano490

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Nov 4, 2007
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I’m assuming that most NBA stadiums are in cities that lean Democrat, right? But I wonder what effect this will have in Milwaukee and Orlando, for example. Not that I’m against it.
 

Ale Xander

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Oct 31, 2013
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On google and nba.com, it’s now showing the game for tomorrow. With a TBD for the time of the game.

Don’t know if it means anything, but they both said Sunday as of last night.
CNBC Sports Reporter Eric Chemi (aka Mr. Kelly Evans) just said that Thursday games will be Sunday, and Wednesday games will be Saturday.
 

Kliq

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I’m assuming that most NBA stadiums are in cities that lean Democrat, right? But I wonder what effect this will have in Milwaukee and Orlando, for example. Not that I’m against it.
Almost all cities are democratic leaning, even Milwaukee, Orlando, New Orleans, Memphis and Salt Lake City all have Democratic mayors. You probably already know this, but the real value is that polling locations in urban areas, areas typically filled with POC and left-leaning voters, are poorly serviced for elections, leading to long lines and hard to access locations at polling stations. By offering early voting, and having them be at buildings specifically designed to handle large crowds and are often easily accessible by public transportation, it should make it easier for those people to vote.

The Miller family, who own the Utah Jazz, have announced that in addition to the Vivent Arena, movie theaters in the area owned by the Miller family will also serve as polling locations.

https://kutv.com/news/local/utah-jazz-announce-vivint-arena-select-megaplex-theatres-to-serve-as-polling-centers
 

InstaFace

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Not sure about the plans everywhere, but I know a few months ago when the Hawks announced the plans for their building to be a voting center they mentioned that the arena staff (who have been out of work with no events) would be trained and used as election workers.
They can't be paid to be election workers, though, can they? I dunno what kind of workarounds exist for that, but if they're furloughed and suddenly they're told "hey, since you're not doing anything, why doncha volunteer for this additional thing!", I can see that coming off poorly.
 

Kliq

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They can't be paid to be election workers, though, can they? I dunno what kind of workarounds exist for that, but if they're furloughed and suddenly they're told "hey, since you're not doing anything, why doncha volunteer for this additional thing!", I can see that coming off poorly.
Wouldn't the logical workaround be that their employer is paying them to assist with a large event at the building? Maybe there are specific things that they can't do, but a vast majority of them would just be working in crowd control, right?
 

InstaFace

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I’m assuming that most NBA stadiums are in cities that lean Democrat, right? But I wonder what effect this will have in Milwaukee and Orlando, for example. Not that I’m against it.
Anything that helps mitigate the voter suppression in cities will be a mitzvah, and in swing-state cities it could end up having a real impact.

I'll go into detail over in the V&N thread, so as not to broaden this beyond the NBA factors.

Wouldn't the logical workaround be that their employer is paying them to assist with a large event at the building? Maybe there are specific things that they can't do, but a vast majority of them would just be working in crowd control, right?
I have no idea, I'm sure there are state laws about this in every relevant state.

The gig itself, independent of any outside cash, apparently pays pretty decently by working-class standards:

https://money.com/how-much-poll-workers-make/
It looks like each local jurisdiction can set their pay rates, subject (sometimes) to statewide caps.
 

ZMart100

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They can't be paid to be election workers, though, can they? I dunno what kind of workarounds exist for that, but if they're furloughed and suddenly they're told "hey, since you're not doing anything, why doncha volunteer for this additional thing!", I can see that coming off poorly.
It varies by location, but a lot of poll workers get paid.
 

SumnerH

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Almost all cities are democratic leaning, even Milwaukee, Orlando, New Orleans, Memphis and Salt Lake City all have Democratic mayors.[/URL]
Yes. Almost all cities are Democratic leaning. It's not just Democratic mayors, they almost all also vote for (D) presidents.

Orlando: Orange county voted Democratic in the previous five Presidential elections. In the last Presidential election, Orange county remained strongly Democratic, 59.8% to 35.4%
Milwaukee: Milwaukee county voted Democratic in the previous five Presidential elections. In the last Presidential election, Milwaukee county remained strongly Democratic, 65.5% to 28.6%
Memphis: Shelby county voted Democratic in the previous five Presidential elections. In the last Presidential election, Shelby county remained strongly Democratic, 61.9% to 34.5%
New Orleans: Orleans parish voted Democratic in the previous five Presidential elections. In the last Presidential election, Orleans parish remained overwhelmingly Democratic, 80.8% to 14.7%

Salt Lake City is the exception, but they hate Trump. They're (R) in 3 of the last 5 elections, but in 2016 were 41.5% (D) to 32.6% (R).

See https://www.bestplaces.net/voting/city/florida/orlando and similar.
 

cornwalls@6

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Man, the rural/exurban vs cities divide in most of this country is beyond stark. I love that teams are setting up their arenas and stadiums to be polling places. Maybe the most effective way they can tribute to the cause, acting as a bulwark against voter suppression.
 

benhogan

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I hope the players/those in charge are savvy and focus the effort/funds on the perennial "swing" states like Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
 

InstaFace

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Based on my analysis in V&N, the most impactful NBA teams who have volunteered their arenas so far are the Bucks (Milwaukee, WI), Pistons (Detroit, MI), with some possible help from the Hawks (Atlanta, GA).

The most impactful teams who could join those ranks, in order, include:
1. 76ers (Philadelphia, PA)
2. Timberwolves (Minneapolis, MN)
3. Heat (Miami, FL)
4. Magic (Orlando, FL)
5. Suns (Phoenix, AZ)
6. Hornets (Charlotte, NC)
7. Cavaliers (Cleveland, OH)

To that we can add some G-League affiliates:

8. Wisconsin Herd (Oshkosh, WI near Green Bay - Bucks affiliate)
9. Erie BayHawks (Erie, PA - NO Pelicans affiliate... for now)
10. Grand Rapids Drive (Grand Rapids, MI - Pistons affiliate)
11. Lakeland Magic (Lakeland, FL - Magic affiliate)
12. Northern Arizona Suns (Prescott Village, AZ - Suns affiliate)
13. Greensboro Swarm (Greensboro, NC - Hornets affiliate)
14. Canton Charge (Canton, OH - Cavaliers affiliate)
15. College Park Skyhawks (College Park, GA - Hawks affiliate)

That's a lot of runway for them to increase their impact. Let's pay attention to any announcements from the NBA. Plus there are teams in other leagues who can make a difference in the same way (e.g., the Pittsburgh Steelers & Penguins are both offering up their arenas), but this is an NBA thread and forum.
 

benhogan

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Man, the rural/exurban vs cities divide in most of this country is beyond stark. I love that teams are setting up their arenas and stadiums to be polling places. Maybe the most effective way they can tribute to the cause, acting as a bulwark against voter suppression.
if it works, it will be American ingenuity at its best.

And it will be a group of NBA players for the reason why
 

Pablo's TB Lover

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The WNBA's Atlanta Dream season has played out this way, with players wearing shirts openly supporting their co-owner's Democratic opponent in the upcoming 3-way Georgia Senate election. After her doubling down on being anti-BLM messaging during their season, many players want Kelly Loeffler to be "removed" from owning the team similar to the Donald Sterling event

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2020/08/29/kelly-loeffler-wnba-black-lives-matter/