On August 26, 2020, the NBA expected to draw millions of eyes for its on-court action, with America seeking respite from the COVID-19 pandemic and protests of racial injustice.
Instead, the league seized the attention of the world by putting the game aside to focus on something far bigger.
August 26 was the day the Milwaukee Bucks and Orlando Magic refused to play their playoff game in Disney’s NBA bubble in Orlando to protest police violence against Black Americans following the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin on August 23.
Their protest touched off three days without NBA basketball as players, coaches, executives and media, including those from the Boston Celtics, grappled with the aftermath of yet another national police encounter, with the murder of George Floyd and shooting of Breonna Taylor hanging over the bubble’s proceedings since its inception.