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Crisis is over — Players return to the court

Florida–NBA playoff games are set to resume on Saturday (Sunday, PH time), but players are determined to keep the focus on the fight for social justice and racial equality with the help from club owners and the league.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver and National Basketball Players Association executive director Michele Roberts said in a joint statement on Friday that “All parties agreed to resume NBA playoff games on Saturday.”

“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,” the NBA/NBPA statement said.

Players and the league agreed to form a social justice coalition to address a broad range of issues including access to voting, promoting civic engagement and police and criminal justice reform.

The announcement came on a third day of postponed NBA playoff games after the Milwaukee Bucks — shocked by the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin, refused to take the court Wednesday for a scheduled Eastern Conference first-round matchup against Orlando in the NBA’s COVID-19 quarantine bubble at Disney World in Orlando, Florida.

The move led to postponements in support of social justice in Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer, the Women’s NBA, the National Hockey League and tennis.

Milwaukee is scheduled to take the court against Orlando on Saturday, with a chance to advance to the second round. Oklahoma City take on Houston and the Los Angeles Lakers face Portland in another potential series-clinching game.

Lakers superstar LeBron James was reportedly among a small group of players who consulted with former President Barack Obama to find a productive way forward after games were halted.

“As an avid basketball fan, President Obama speaks regularly with players and league officials,” Katie Hill, a spokeswoman for Obama, told the New York Times.

“When asked, he was happy to provide advice on Wednesday night to a small group of NBA players seeking to leverage their immense platforms for good after their brave and inspiring strike in the wake of Jacob Blake’s shooting.”

Hours of meetings — first among players as they discussed whether to continue the season at all and then among players, owners and league commissioner Adam Silver — resulted in the coalition and some concrete next steps.

Among the initiatives agreed on, NBA owners whose teams own and control their arenas will work with local elections officials to use them for voting locations for the 2020 US general election, allowing safe in-person voting options in communities fearful of COVID-19.