The NBA’s hiatus is set to end in the midst of social unrest tied to the killing of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police and a global pandemic. Concerns over those issues triggered a 80-player phone conference earlier this week. According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, Kyrie Irving headlined a call that featured a handful of current and former Trail Blazers players.
CJ McCollum, Carmelo Anthony, Zach Collins and former Blazers forward Al-Farouq Aminu all participated on the call. Irving led the way by raising concerns over the messaging that players would send by resuming the season in Orlando later this summer.