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After a night of rest, players vote to resume NBA playoffs

Chris Haynes
·2 min read

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — NBA players voted to resume the playoffs in a meeting Thursday morning after walking out on Wednesday’s slate of games, league sources told Yahoo Sports.

The agreement occurred at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort in a meeting that lasted a little less than an hour, sources said. It was the players’ second meeting in the last 15 hours.

Thursday’s scheduled games were postponed, and the league announced that it would hold a meeting with players Thursday in hopes of returning to play Friday or Saturday.

In Wednesday night’s meeting, frustration mounted and tension grew among the players, who were irritated by a lack of strategic unity, sources said.

The Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers voted against resuming the playoffs last night and were the first two teams to exit the meeting, sources said.

LeBron James and Kawhi Leonard expressed a desire to return home, sources said, but in Thursday’s meeting, James related that it was in the best interest of the players to finish what they started.

Anthony Davis was on board with whatever the players decided, sources said.

A source of frustration Wednesday night stemmed from the players not being on the same page, and emotion did get the best of some. The hope from the collective was after a good night’s sleep, the players could reconvene Thursday and get to this point. And that’s exactly what happened.

Players’ association executives Chris Paul and Andre Iguodala explained the financial ramifications of bailing on the season, detailing how the CBA could get torn up by the owners and place them in a position of decreased salaries moving forward, sources said.

The players were protesting the shooting of Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man who was shot in the back multiple times on Sunday by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, as he tried to get into his vehicle. The incident was captured on video. His three sons — ages 3, 5, and 8 — were in the vehicle during the incident, his family’s attorney said.

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